Here’s where things stand with Amazon possibly streaming Royals games in 2024

The Royals and Bally Sports Kansas City last week announced ways to stream games in the upcoming season but it did not include an option for watching on Amazon Prime.

However, it appears likely that fans will have that opportunity at some point this year.

Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of Bally Sports KC, filed for bankruptcy a year ago, and the Financial Times reported that it seemed at one point that 2024 would be the final year of operations for Diamond.

But Diamond reached a restructuring deal that included Amazon, which potentially could stream Royals games.

Sportico reported that Diamond has worked out deals with its MLB partner teams “to televise the teams’ games in their respective home markets through the end of the 2023-24 seasons.” The rights deal with the Royals will expire at end of this season, Sportico said.

Diamond has the streaming rights for just five Major League Baseball teams, including the Royals. But it could allow Amazon to get its foot in the door of streaming MLB games.

“One person involved in the Amazon negotiations for Diamond described the deal with the Seattle-based behemoth using a sports analogy: Diamond was like a player with an expiring contract acquired at the midseason trade deadline,” the Financial Times’ Sara Germano and Sujeet Indap wrote.

“If there were longer-term synergies, a longer arrangement could be later struck.”

At Royals Rally in January, team CEO/chairman John Sherman expressed his approval of games streaming on Amazon.

“I think if that happens, if Amazon is part of the deal, that will help,” Sherman said. “That’ll give our fans more access, it’ll give us more reach. But I think there’s a lot still to be determined there. I think long term, the league ultimately would like to get those rights back. I mean, that’s really what they’ve been arguing in the bankruptcy court. ...

“So there’s a lot to do there. But ... ultimately we’d like to get the rights back and then put together our own partnership with maybe it’s Amazon, maybe it’s Apple. We think baseball has left some money on the table in terms of our media rights values. When we’re packaged up in a regional sports network with the NHL and the NBA, we have more content and it has higher ratings than either basketball or hockey in most of the markets we’re in. So in some ways baseball is sort of subsidizing those sports on a local level.”

At this point, the Royals like the thought of games streaming on Amazon, and Amazon wants to see if MLB games are a good fit. So what comes next?

April 22 could be a date to keep in mind. Sportico reported that is when “legacy partners’ exclusive haggling window closes” with Diamond. Soon after that date we could know if Amazon gets the green-light to stream Royals games this season. But it remains unclear how quickly that would happen.

Here is what we know about what it would look like if Royals games are streamed on Amazon Prime.

What would it cost?

Bally Sports said Amazon Prime subscribers would be able to purchase Bally Sports+ “for an incremental cost.” That price hasn’t been determined.

Will Bally Sports+ be going away?

That doesn’t appear to be the case. Even if Royals games are one day streaming on Amazon, the Bally Sports+ app will still be available for people who don’t subscribe to Amazon. However, Bally Sports+ potentially could have a new name.

Would I still be able to watch on cable?

Yes. Even if games stream on Bally Sports+ and Amazon, fans with a cable subscription that include Bally Sports Kansas City would watch as they’ve done in the past. Bally Sports wrote on its website: “Our existing cable, satellite and virtual streaming distribution partners will continue to deliver all Bally Sports programming to their customers.”

What if I already am paying for Bally Sports+ and Amazon?

Bally Sports+ will not automatically be available through an existing Prime Video subscription, Bally said. What it would mean for people who have both has not yet been determined.

What if I live out of the Royals’ TV market?

Unfortunately, you’re still out of luck. This is from the Athletic: “All of this has to do with watching games in-market. If you’re out of market, nothing changes: you sign up for MLB.tv or MLB Extra Innings, and that’s that.”

But Sherman is well-aware of complaints from fans who can’t access Royals games on MLB.tv. That’s something he wants fixed.

“We think long term, an MLB media strategy that we’re part of will be great for clubs, but also great for fans and longterm ultimately eliminate all this kind of silly blackout stuff and this legacy stuff that’s left over,” Sherman said.

“I talked to somebody downstairs from Des Moines (at Royals Rally). They told me they get blacked out on MLB(.tv) for the Royals, they can’t get the Cubs and they’re trying to watch the Cubs, the Twins, the Royals, and maybe the Cardinals, right? ... It’s very confusing. Those are antiquated legacy deals that don’t make any sense anymore.”