UPDATED INFO - 1/8/26:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6955733/2026/01/08/mlb-fanduel-sports-network-teams-cancel-contracts/

The nine Major League Baseball teams televised by FanDuel Sport Network have terminated their contracts with FanDuel SN and its struggling parent company, Main Street Sports Group, two people briefed on the contracts told The Athletic.

Termination of the deals does not preclude those teams — the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays — from returning on renegotiated agreements.

By exiting their existing contracts, the MLB teams are attempting to safeguard themselves from the possibility Main Street files for bankruptcy, which would limit how clubs that hold contracts with Main Street could maneuver.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Thursday in New York that the league is in position to take over the broadcasts of any teams if needed, and that the goal is to maximize revenue.

“Our focus, particularly given the point in the calendar, is to maximize the revenue that’s available to the clubs, whether that’s MLB Media or third party,” Manfred said, per the Associated Press. “The clubs have control over the timing. They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously, they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

Barry Jackson reported in the Miami Herald on Thursday that Main Street missed a payment to the Marlins. Main Street was known to have missed a payment to the Cardinals last month. A person briefed on FanDuel SN’s contracts confirmed that multiple MLB teams have not received scheduled payments.

ORIGINAL POST:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6948445/2026/01/07/fanduel-sports-network-renegotiate-payments-cardinals/

Next season’s television income for nine Major League Baseball teams — close to one third of the league — is up in the air, adding a new wrinkle to an offseason where free agency has already moved slowly.

Main Street Sports Group, the financially troubled operator of the FanDuel Sports Network regional sports channels, is attempting to re-negotiate what it pays 29 partner teams across MLB, NBA and NHL. People briefed on the company’s finances who were not authorized to speak publicly said Main Street lost approximately $200 million in 2025 across its portfolio, which includes baseball’s Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.

Main Street missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals last month and the Cardinals are now deliberating whether to return to FanDuel SN next season, people briefed on those discussions said. The Cardinals, like many teams, have been negotiating with Main Street in recent days and are expected to decide soon whether to remain with FanDuel under a reworked agreement or to leave the network altogether.

“Main Street Sports Group is in dialogue with its team and league partners around the timing of rights payments as we progress discussions with strategic partners to further enhance our long-term capital position,” Main Street said in a statement.

Edited January 8Jan 8 by rmc523

Oh no, Bruce is gonna cut payroll now

33 minutes ago, Admin said:

Oh no, Bruce is gonna cut payroll now

49 minutes ago, Admin said:

Oh no, Bruce is gonna cut payroll now

That payroll have nothing left to cut.

1 hour ago, TaiwanMarlins said:

That payroll have nothing left to cut.

2 hours ago, TaiwanMarlins said:

That payroll have nothing left to cut.

Good. Let Sherman financially suffer.

Yikes! They missed a payment to the Marlins, and now it's bye bye.

UPDATED INFO - 1/8/26:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6955733/2026/01/08/mlb-fanduel-sports-network-teams-cancel-contracts/

The nine Major League Baseball teams televised by FanDuel Sport Network have terminated their contracts with FanDuel SN and its struggling parent company, Main Street Sports Group, two people briefed on the contracts told The Athletic.

Termination of the deals does not preclude those teams — the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays — from returning on renegotiated agreements.

By exiting their existing contracts, the MLB teams are attempting to safeguard themselves from the possibility Main Street files for bankruptcy, which would limit how clubs that hold contracts with Main Street could maneuver.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Thursday in New York that the league is in position to take over the broadcasts of any teams if needed, and that the goal is to maximize revenue.

“Our focus, particularly given the point in the calendar, is to maximize the revenue that’s available to the clubs, whether that’s MLB Media or third party,” Manfred said, per the Associated Press. “The clubs have control over the timing. They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously, they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

Barry Jackson reported in the Miami Herald on Thursday that Main Street missed a payment to the Marlins. Main Street was known to have missed a payment to the Cardinals last month. A person briefed on FanDuel SN’s contracts confirmed that multiple MLB teams have not received scheduled payments.

So what happens when MLB takes over your team's broadcast? How do fans watch the games?

24 minutes ago, farmer_fran said:

So what happens when MLB takes over your team's broadcast? How do fans watch the games?

I may be wrong (I'm probably wrong [assume I'm wrong]), but we may be able to do so via MLB TV since we wouldn't have a regional sports network blackout.

11 hours ago, farmer_fran said:

So what happens when MLB takes over your team's broadcast? How do fans watch the games?

This is how the Guardians are set up, so I assume it'd work the same with other teams.

s

The Athletic article mentioned that yesterday's news doesn't automatically mean MLB is taking over - there's still the possibility of a reworked deal with the Fan Duel people.......though this would be the second reworked deal in however many years...

Great news for MLB and all the teams affected.

I mean how much do the marlins make off the broadcast rights?

1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

This is how the Guardians are set up, so I assume it'd work the same with other teams.

s

The Athletic article mentioned that yesterday's news doesn't automatically mean MLB is taking over - there's still the possibility of a reworked deal with the Fan Duel people.......though this would be the second reworked deal in however many years...

"Fans within the home area can purchase MLB.TV all teams + CLEGUARDIANS.TV subscription for $34.99 for the full season"

Confused by this line. MLB.TV just by it self is $150 for the full season.

23 minutes ago, farmer_fran said:

"Fans within the home area can purchase MLB.TV all teams + CLEGUARDIANS.TV subscription for $34.99 for the full season"

Confused by this line. MLB.TV just by it self is $150 for the full season.

Hmm yeah. Maybe it’s an add on to the full package? I know it doesn’t sound like that but maybe that’s what they meant

1 hour ago, marlinsmaniac said:

I mean how much do the marlins make off the broadcast rights?

The new deal that they put together back in 2021 with Diamond Sports (when they became Bally) that we were excited about was reported to be around $50M per season.

That got reworked last year when Diamond went bankrupt and they became FanDuel......but, I don't think figures were never reported. It had to be less than the $50M, though.

Looking at this new potential setup (if a new deal isn't reached and/or someone doesn't buy the FanDuel setup), I think the MLB-run setups are a "make what you make" in that whatever number of subscriptions you have is what you make.

48 minutes ago, farmer_fran said:

"Fans within the home area can purchase MLB.TV all teams + CLEGUARDIANS.TV subscription for $34.99 for the full season"

Confused by this line. MLB.TV just by it self is $150 for the full season.

Not sure how it works exactly.

Edited January 9Jan 9 by rmc523

They are going to take a haircut on what they make in the short term though by controlling everything and being able to sell ads they stand to make a fucking mint.

Live sports are the only things that people watch well live and as such, sell ads to.

More eye balls on your product means higher ad rates. Fully expect MLB controlling the local rights finally (their own stupid doing) will be a gigantic cash cow for them within 5 years.

On 1/10/2026 at 10:37 AM, Das Texan said:

They are going to take a haircut on what they make in the short term though by controlling everything and being able to sell ads they stand to make a fucking mint.

Live sports are the only things that people watch well live and as such, sell ads to.

More eye balls on your product means higher ad rates. Fully expect MLB controlling the local rights finally (their own stupid doing) will be a gigantic cash cow for them within 5 years.

Yeah it seems like they’ve organized all the major deals to expire in 2028 so they can bundle it all together in a mega package

Really hoping they end up on WAMI, I mean Scripps. I feel like it would be the perfect complement to the Panthers and it'll be free locally.

I don't want to pay for this ~GARBAGE~

On 1/9/2026 at 10:47 AM, rmc523 said:

The new deal that they put together back in 2021 with Diamond Sports (when they became Bally) that we were excited about was reported to be around $50M per season.

That got reworked last year when Diamond went bankrupt and they became FanDuel......but, I don't think figures were never reported. It had to be less than the $50M, though.

Looking at this new potential setup (if a new deal isn't reached and/or someone doesn't buy the FanDuel setup), I think the MLB-run setups are a "make what you make" in that whatever number of subscriptions you have is what you make.

Not sure how it works exactly.

Pay 150 and then pay an extra 35 to see your team locally with no blackouts.

3 minutes ago, Piazza31 said:

Pay 150 and then pay an extra 35 to see your team locally with no blackouts.

I dont think thats necessarily unreasonable.

The revenue I feel they are really missing is selling ads on mlb.tv between innings. You get some generic crap instead of them actually monetizing that. I assume that is something that is coming (and should be coming) from a revenue generation standpoint.

I could see a scenario where you get your local games over the air, but you can also sign up for the streaming option as well. Its the best of both worlds for the teams in many cases from a business standpoint. You get more eyeballs on the product and thus you can sell ads at higher rates which is where you really make the money.

Or they just go the greed route and force you to pay 20 bucks a month for your local team like Fan Duel currently does (though seems counter intuitive to more eyeballs on your product)

On a semi-related note:

Nationals Depart MASN, Turn Broadcasts To MLB - MLB Trade Rumors

The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’re stepping away from their local broadcasting deal with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Major League Baseball will handle in-market distribution via streaming on the league’s MLB.tv platform and through yet to be announced cable/satellite partnerships. Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post and Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com were among those to cover the news.

13 minutes ago, Piazza31 said:

Pay 150 and then pay an extra 35 to see your team locally with no blackouts.

So $150 for something you don't want, then an extra $35 to see what you do want?

Edited January 15Jan 15 by rmc523

Just now, rmc523 said:

So $150 for something you don't want, then an extra $35 to see what you do want?

Maybe? I dont know how it gets structured. I imagine they offer a local option only for something like 50-75 a year, but you can get everything for not much more.

I know I have no interest in watching games from the rest of the league. I've barely watched Marlins games the last few years TBH. But a local-only option would be more preferrable for me, and I'm sure many other potential customers.