Over the weekend, a bombshell dropped on the world of regional sports networks.
Main Street Sports Group, owners of the FanDuel Sports Networks, could reportedly fold as soon as early next year if a potential sale to sports streaming platform DAZN falls through. If Main Street goes belly up, 29 franchises across MLB, the NBA, and the NHL would find themselves without a local broadcast partner, perhaps even in the middle of the ongoing season, jeopardizing a primary source of revenue and leaving fans in a lurch.
The NBA has already discussed its contingency plan with the 13 clubs currently under contract with FanDuel Sports Network. The league would step in to produce game broadcasts for all 13 teams and use its current League Pass platform to distribute them.
That plan is similar to what MLB implemented a couple of seasons ago, when Main Street’s predecessor, Diamond Sports Group, dropped the San Diego Padres midseason. In that case, MLB took over game production, placed games on MLB.tv, and helped secure distribution deals with cable and satellite providers in the affected markets.
After the 2023 season, other MLB teams followed suit, joining the league’s in-house production apparatus. In total, six clubs are currently under MLB’s local broadcast purview, but that number could quickly balloon to 14 if Main Street goes under, leaving the nine MLB teams currently tied to FanDuel Sports Networks without a place to broadcast local games.
It’s precisely this possibility that could benefit ESPN significantly. ESPN, many will recall, recently signed a new broadcast deal with MLB that gives the network out-of-market local broadcast rights via MLB.tv. However, that deal also included in-market streaming rights for the six MLB clubs currently under the league’s broadcast arm. As part of ESPN’s new deal, the network also receives in-market streaming rights for any additional clubs that cede local broadcast rights back to the league. That means if Main Street can’t secure a sale to DAZN, ESPN could end up with in-market streaming rights for nearly half of MLB.
To be sure, it’s not a guarantee that all nine MLB clubs currently airing on FanDuel Sports Networks would cede local rights to the league. At least some would likely seek other, potentially more lucrative options. Out of the nine teams — the Cardinals, Braves, Brewers, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Angels, Marlins, and Rays — the Braves would seem to be the most likely out of the bunch to find a new and willing local rights partner.
Regardless, picking up any number of these teams would be a coup for ESPN, which hasn’t even begun broadcasting MLB games under its new deal. The network made a big bet on local rights over a more substantial national package when it decided to leave Sunday Night Baseball in favor of a deal centered around MLB.tv.
That deal, it seems, could pay off much quicker than even the most optimistic executives in Bristol could’ve anticipated.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.