ST. LOUIS — Bally Sports Midwest, home of televised broadcasts of St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues games, has lost an estimated 1.9 million subscribers in the last decade as the cord-cutting phenomenon gained momentum amongst viewers.
The same phenomenon contributed to Bally Sports Midwest’s parent company, Diamond Sports Group, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 14. Another contributing factor was the company's loss of presence on platforms like YouTube TV and the DISH Network.
According to research by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Bally Sports Midwest had an estimated 3.7 million subscribers in 2013, but just 1.2 million in 2023 — an over 51% decrease. Most of the losses came in the last five years, with the company losing 1.2 million subscribers between 2018 and 2023.
The steady decline in subscribers between those years also overlaps with a decrease in revenue for Diamond Sports, which experienced an $810 million, or 22%, decline in revenue from 2019 to 2022, according to a March 15 bankruptcy filing.
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