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Preschlack in the Sky with Diamond

After rescuing Diamond Sports Group from bankruptcy, C.E.O. David Preschlack now faces the unenviable task of cutting deals with various cable providers and leagues to satisfy the courts that this thing is a going concern. Here, for the first time, he chatted candidly about his burden.

david preshlack
During a one-hour conversation, Diamond C.E.O. David Preschlack projected a lot of confidence about getting deals done, emerging from bankruptcy, and putting Diamond back together. Photo: Diamond Images/George Kubas/Getty
John Ourand
March 25, 2024

The star-crossed fate of Diamond Sports Group is a well-known saga to faithful readers of The Varsity and avid consumers of the regional sports network cinematic universe. But for the uninitiated, allow me to retell a gruesome story in brief: Diamond, once the under-loved leftovers of Rupert Murdoch’s $70+ billion sale of the 21st Century Fox assets to Disney, had been left for dead amid the underwater economics of the local sports broadcasting business—one in which its rights payments overwhelmed its local TV revenues. A year ago, the company filed for bankruptcy. Then, in mid-January, came a lifeline: Diamond worked out a $115 million deal with Amazon, combined with a $450 million debtor-in-possession financing from its creditors.