(Baltimore) - The TV channels that carry Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers games will soon have new names. Fox Sports Ohio will be re branded as Bally Sports Ohio, and Sports Time Ohio will have the new name Bally Sports Great Lakes.
The name change comes after 21st Century Fox sold all of its regional networks to Disney, which then sold them to Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group. Disney already owned ESPN, and sold off the Fox regional networks as part of its merger with 21st Century Fox.. Sinclair then worked out a 10-year, $85 million naming rights deal with Bally's, the operator of numerous casinos across the nation.
The CEO of Bally's said in a statement, “Rolling out Bally’s iconic logo across Sinclair’s regional sports networks is a rewarding first step in a transformational partnership that is going to revolutionize the U.S. sports betting, gaming and media industries."
Reports say the name change will be in place by the start of the Major League Baseball season.
Sinclair owns nearly 200 TV stations across the country, including stations in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, and Steubenville.
(Map courtesy Sinclair Broadcast Group)