The FanDuel RSNs appear to be living on borrowed time as the end is drawing near for Main Street Sports Group. However, the final blow to the industry could at least provide a reprieve for the NBA and NHL teams that would be thrown into chaos with a mid-season shut down.
Main Street Sports Group is approaching a potential liquidation without an immediate investment or partnership. After improbably climbing out of bankruptcy as the former Diamond Sports Group, the new company has been met with similar problems that plagued the old one. And with more teams looking to flee the sinking ship, time is running out.
According to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, the exit of the last remaining FanDuel MLB teams before their season gets underway could provide enough short-term flexibility to at least avoid shuttering in February and leaving the contracted NBA and NHL teams without a home for the second half of their seasons. However, it would still likely come with reduced payoffs for their local rights.
That’s not an ideal situation for the NBA or NHL. However, it may be the best hand they could play at the moment. The FanDuel RSN teams would not want to be left scrambling to find a home for the last three months of the seasons. And it would make it extremely challenging for fans given that teams will be left to cobble together some kind of over-the-air or streaming option to close out the campaign.
Whether it happens in February or April, it appears that there is no buzzer-beater that will save the RSNs this time. And it will be up to each league to process how best to move forward for their business in replacing the lucrative local rights under the RSN model and for their fans in how best to access games.
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