Braves-Bally Sports issues extend to appalling levels at Truist Park

As Atlanta Braves fans have been made painfully aware of over the past week-plus, there is an ongoing dispute between Comcast-Xfinity and Diamon Sports Group, which owns Bally Sports, the broadcast partner for Braves games and other MLB teams. As such, Xfinity customers have been unable to watch Braves games on their normal Bally Sports network.

That, in itself, is a black mark for baseball, especially when it involves one of the best and most popular teams in the sport with the Braves. But somehow, with the Bravos heading back to Atlanta this week after a disastrous trip to Los Angeles for a two-game set with the Boston Red Sox, it's looking even worse inside Truist Park.

David O'Brien of The Athletic tweeted out his view from the press box at Truist Park and showcased the fact that the TVs in the suite that normally broadcast the games are currently blacked out with the equivalent of an error message reading across the screen amid the Bally Sports-Xfinity carriage dispute. With a touch of irony, O'Brien also made sure to point out the Xfinity building in clear view beyond the right-field bleachers.

Braves game blacked out inside Truist Park amid Bally Sports-Xfinity drama

It's truly a remarkably stupid thing that this is happening in 2024 and that, frankly, many people in the Atlanta area -- which, you know, is where the majority of Braves fans reside given how much of fandom is often determined by geography -- are left entirely unable to watch Ronald Acuña Jr. and this team.

Not only is Bally Sports simply unavailable currently for Xfinity subscribers (which is definitely the predominant provider in the Metro Atlanta area), but we know that the MLB.TV blackout rules are absolutely absurd and no one in the Atlanta area can watch the Braves even if they are subscribed because of that.

None of it is a good look for Bally Sports, Xfinity, or MLB. It's all bad, and that's not what you want, especially when you think about something like this Braves-Red Sox series, which features two of baseball's biggest teams in terms of popularity. Now, at least half of that population is having to scramble for how to watch the game, even if they are inside the stadium!

There hasn't been any real end in sight for the Xfinity-Bally Sports drama based on what we've heard. But in the interest of baseball, Braves or otherwise, we need to find a better solution for broadcasts than what we're getting.