1. **Reds ending their joint venture with Diamond Sports Group**
* The Cincinnati Reds and Diamond Sports Group (which owns Bally Sports regional networks) have terminated their joint venture.
* As part of this, the Reds sold back their \~20% stake in the Ohio network to Diamond for **\$1**. ([Fox Sports][1])
* This move frees them up to find a new TV/media partner for local broadcasts. ([Spectrum News 1][2])
2. **Diamond Sports’ financial & legal troubles**
* Diamond Sports has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since March 2023. ([Fox Sports][1])
* MLB and other teams have objected to Diamond’s reorganization plan, citing concerns about its feasibility and financial stability. ([Sports Business Journal][3])
* One consequence is that Diamond has informed several MLB teams (including the Reds) that they will no longer carry their games under current terms beginning in 2025. ([SI][4])
3. **Broadcast rights & local TV revenue shift**
* The Reds derive a significant chunk of revenue from local TV rights. Losing or renegotiating those contracts impacts their financial outlook. ([SI][4])
* MLB may step in: there are indications that MLB could produce and distribute the Reds’ local broadcasts, similar to what’s happening with several other teams. ([Fox Sports][1])
* There is **no evidence** that the Reds have “cut ties with a Super Bowl” (which is NFL) or some kind of tie with a “World Series” as an organization. The Reds are a baseball team; traditionally, Super Bowls are football events by the NFL and the World Series is theirs by MLB. They don’t *tie* to those events in a contract sense.
* There is no credible report about “another World Series” cut beyond the usual broadcast rights / TV partner negotiations.
* The phrases “unusual twists” etc. seem to be embellishments or misunderstandings.
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Here are possible sources of the mix‑up:
* **Broadcast rights vs. sports events**: Sometimes when a team loses its TV network deal, people feel like the team is “cutting off” big events, but really it’s about who shows their games locally.
* **Team vs. league achievements**: The Reds haven’t been to a World Series recently (their last championship was 1990), so maybe someone conflated their struggles with some tie‑cutting or disassociation.
* **“Cut ties” language used in legal / financial context**: The news around Diamond Sports / RSNs uses “terminate,” “end joint venture,” etc. That could be misheard or mis‑described as cutting ties with “events” instead of with media partners.
If you’re saying “I can’t tolerate any longer,” I get the anger. Fans are often kept in the dark, rights deal break‑ups can mean you can’t watch your team anymore, and there’s often corporate legalese instead of transparency. The Reds’ local TV situation means fewer reliable ways to watch home games unless a new partner steps up, and that feels like losing part of your connection with the team.
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If you want, I can write an article in your style about this — taking the confirmed facts, exposing what’s speculative / untrue, and venting the frustrations many fans share. Would you prefer that?
If you’re saying “I can’t tolerate any longer,” I get the anger. Fans are often kept in the dark, rights deal break‑ups can mean you can’t watch your team anymore, and there’s often corporate legalese instead of transparency. The Reds’ local TV situation means fewer reliable ways to watch home games unless a new partner steps up, and that feels like losing part of your connection with the team.
If you want, I can write an article in your style about this — taking the confirmed facts, exposing what’s speculative / untrue, and venting the frustrations many fans share. Would you prefer that?
Nick Krall may have gifted one of the Cincinnati Reds best prospects to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this year. The Reds traded Mike Sirota and a Competitive Balance draft pick to the Dodgers in exchange for Gavin Lux. While Lux has been a serviceable member of the Reds roster this season, Sirota’s became one of the best prospects in all of Major League Baseball.
Lux has had his moments this season, but his transformation from an infielder to an outfielder has gone about as good as one could expect. Lux has been worth -5 defensive runs saved (DRS) and -6 outs above average (OAA) in left field this season. His defensive performance at second base (-4 DRS and -3 OAA) hasn’t been any better.
As such, Reds manager Terry Francona has been forced to use Lux as the team’s primary designated hitter against right-handed pitching. Lux is hitting .275/.360/.392 against righties, so his performance in 2025 hasn’t been a complete disaster.
Dodgers stole Mike Sirota from the Reds in the Gavin Lux trade
Sirota, on the other hand, looks like a top-100 prospect. In fact, Sirota went all the way from unranked prior to the 2025 season, to the No. 63 ranked prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline. One look at his numbers from this season will show you exactly why.
Sirota, who was a third-round draft pick of the Reds back in 2024, hit a combined .333/.452/.616 between Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes this season. The obvious number that stick out from that slash line is the .616 slugging percentage. Sirota mashed 13 home runs and collected a total of 32 extra-base hits in 59 minor league games this season.
It remains to be seen whether or not Sirota’s success from 2025 — his first professional season — will carry over to 2026, but a large majority of scouts believe it will. The 22-year-old’s season ended prematurely after he was placed on the IL with a knee injury, but he’s likely to return to Dodgers camp next spring in Arizona.
Lux is under team control through next season, but be could become a non-tender candidate this coming fall. At the moment, Reds fans are probably experiencing some form of regret after watching Sirota turn into that power-hitting outfielder they’re constantly clamoring for.
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