By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Watching the Kansas City Royals go from losing 106 games in 2023 to winning 86 games and breaking a nine-year playoff drought in 2024 was a fun ride for many fans. Many other fans saw little of the turnaround as convoluted television contracts limited viewing opportunities.
That could change for the 2025 season. On Wednesday, the Kansas City Star announced the team is renegotiating its contract with Bally Sports Kansas City. An announcement on a new contract could be announced as early as this week.
Royals management had two real options: seek a new deal with Diamond Sports Group for less money or give broadcasting rights to another organization. Major League Baseball would take over broadcasting on its own channel.
Bally Sports KC has been rebranded as FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City after Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Diamond Sports announced Wednesday it had signed a multi-year agreement with Amazon Prime Video, which would broadcast games in "each team's designated geographic area."
Royals fans already using Prime Video would have to pay an additional fee to watch any games streamed via the service. Bally already limited geographic access to Royals games to customers using its app. The new designation via Prime would remain the same.