Bally Sports Networks

FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group). The networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various professional, collegiate, and high school sports teams. Through its owned-and-operated networks and several other affiliates, its programming is available to all or part of at least 33 states.

The networks were formerly known as Fox Sports Networks and operated by News Corporation for most of their existence. They were acquired by Diamond Sports from the Walt Disney Company in 2019, as Disney was required to divest them by the U.S. Department of Justice as a condition of their own acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Diamond Sports was initially established by Sinclair Broadcast Group, with additional equity funding from Allen Media Group. After the takeover, Diamond sold naming rights to the channels to casino operator Bally's Corporation, resulting in their relaunch as Bally Sports on March 31, 2021.

In 2023, amid the impact of cord-cutting and other upheavals in the market, Diamond Sports Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of the associated reorganization process, Diamond planned to be separated from Sinclair into a standalone company. It renegotiated contracts with a number of the teams that it broadcast, and also ended its contracts with several others (either via missed rights payments, the natural end of a contract, or a formal opt-out). In October 2024, it was announced that Diamond would end its agreement with Bally's and enter into a new agreement with online gambling company FanDuel—under which Bally Sports rebranded as FanDuel Sports Network on October 21, 2024. The bankruptcy ended on January 2, 2025, with Diamond Sports Group rebranding as Main Street Sports Group.

History

Beginnings

The networks of FanDuel Sports Network have a long history, with the origins of several of the networks dating to the 1980s and 1990s, as affiliates of the Prime Network (and to a lesser degree SportsChannel). In 1996, News Corporation and Liberty Media (the owner of Prime Network) announced that the Prime Sports networks would be rebranded under the new "Fox Sports Net" brand; the Prime Sports-branded affiliates were officially relaunched as Fox Sports Net on November 1 of that year. In 1997, News Corp and Liberty Media also purchased a 40% stake in Cablevision/NBC's SportsChannel networks which led those networks being rebranded as part of Fox Sports Net in early 1998 and bringing the total number of owned or affiliate networks to 18. In the years that followed, a series of other acquisitions and launches of new networks (along with a few closures) resulted in 22 owned and operated networks.

Acquisition by Diamond Sports Group from Disney

On December 14, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced their intent to acquire 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion after the spin-off of certain businesses into a new entity (initially dubbed "new Fox", but ultimately named Fox Corporation). While the acquisition was originally slated to include Fox Sports' regional operations (which, presumably, would have been re-aligned with Disney's ESPN division), the Justice Department ordered that they be divested within 90 days of the completion of the acquisition due to the concentration of the market that ESPN would hold.

Sinclair Broadcast Group was mentioned as the most likely buyer for the other FSN networks, but would need the assistance of a private equity firm to help raise the cash needed for the purchase. The group's other sports properties included Stadium—a national sports network distributed via over-the-air digital television and internet streaming (in partnership with the Chicago White Sox's investment arm Silver Chalice), Tennis Channel, as well as Marquee—a then-upcoming RSN devoted to the Chicago Cubs.

On May 3, Sinclair officially announced that via its subsidiary Diamond Sports Group, it had agreed to purchase the networks for $10.6 billion, pending regulatory approval. At the same time, it was also revealed that Allen Media Group would hold an equity stake in the company and serve as a "content partner".

The sale was completed on August 22, 2019 and included 21 of the 22 networks. The networks continued to temporarily use the Fox Sports branding under a transitional license agreement with Fox Corporation; Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley stated that there were plans to eventually rebrand them under either a new name, or to "partner with a brand who wants more exposure". There were also plans to increase non-event programming, and emphasis on sports betting in its programming.

Due to a clause in the original sale, Yankee Global Enterprises had a right of first refusal to purchase Fox's share in YES Network. On August 29, 2019, an investor group including the Yankees, Sinclair, Amazon, and the Blackstone Group purchased Disney's 80% stake in the network for $3.47 billion. Sinclair's share of the network is 20%.

FuboTV dropped the channels in January 2020, and YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV followed in October 2020. On November 4, 2020, Sinclair took a $4.23 billion write-down on the FSN purchase.

Rebranding as Bally Sports

On November 17, 2020, it was reported by ''Sportico'' that Sinclair was considering rebranding the networks via a naming rights agreement, and was reportedly in talks with multiple companies involved in sports betting. The next day, Sinclair announced that it had entered into an agreement with casino operator Bally's Corporation to acquire the naming rights under a 10-year deal. This agreement included integration of Bally's content on the channels and other Sinclair properties (including its television stations Stadium and Tennis Channel), and a warrant giving Sinclair the option to acquire a 14.9% stake in Bally's Corporation, and up to 24.9% if performance criteria were met.

On January 27, 2021, Sinclair announced that the networks would be rebranded as Bally Sports on March 31. Fox Sports Carolinas and Fox Sports Tennessee were discontinued, with any unique sports programming moved to the Bally Sports South and Southeast channels. To better reflect their target markets, Prime Ticket and SportsTime Ohio were also rebranded as Bally Sports SoCal and Bally Sports Great Lakes, respectively.

In preparation for the rebrand, new studio sets were constructed at all of FSN's outlets, while Drive Studio produced a new on-air graphics package built upon its existing work for Marquee. On-air graphics feature a new consistent scorebug in the bottom-left of the screen, which is combined into the ticker; the ticker area can also be used to display in-game statistics. Executive vice president Michael Connelly explained that the configuration was designed to eventually allow for the integration of sports betting-related information such as lines and props.

On Opening Day, the newly rebranded channels aired a joint special, ''Bally Sports Big Opening Day.'' It was produced by Stadium, hosted by Michael Kim, Bally Sports SoCal's Kristina Pink and Bally Sports Southeast's Eric Collins, and featured coverage of teams and events across Bally Sports and Sinclair's sports networks.

On June 23, 2022, Bally Sports soft-launched a direct-to-consumer service known as Bally Sports Plus (or Bally Sports+) in selected markets. It launched nationally in the remainder of the networks' footprint on September 26.

Bankruptcy and spin off

On February 15, 2023, Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports, failed to make a $140 million interest payment, instead opting for a 30-day grace period to make the payment. On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; its restructuring plan included a proposal for the company to be separated from the Sinclair Broadcast Group into a standalone company.

During its bankruptcy, Diamond has missed payments to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and to Raycom Sports for its ACC on Regional Sports Networks package and the Orange Bowl for its ''Orange Bowl Classic'' men's college basketball tournament. Diamond also entered grace periods for their payments to the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds of MLB, which they eventually made.

On May 31, 2023, Diamond officially missed a second payment to the Padres, and the Padres' television rights were returned to Major League Baseball. Because Bally Sports San Diego, which aired Padres games, is a joint venture between the Padres and Diamond it is technically not in bankruptcy. Therefore, this missed payment did not have the same bankruptcy protections that Diamond's other missed payments had. On June 1, 2023, after a two-day long hearing, the bankruptcy judge ordered Diamond to pay the other Major League Baseball teams they missed payments to fully within five days. Bally Sports gave up the rights to the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 18, 2023. Furthermore, with Bally Sports Arizona also losing local broadcast rights to both the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury to Gray Television (via KTVK and KPHE-LD, respectively) in April of that year and then the Arizona Coyotes to Scripps Sports (via KASW) in early October, Diamond Sports Group ultimately shut down Bally Sports Arizona on October 21, 2023, becoming the first official casualty of the bankruptcy. Bally Sports San Diego would shut down next by liquidating assets to the Padres following a settlement made in April 2024. On June 14, 2023, Diamond rejected its contract with Raycom Sports to distribute a package of Atlantic Coast Conference games, freeing Raycom to sell the package to other networks. A month later, Raycom announced that The CW had bought the rights.

On November 6, 2023, Diamond Sports and the National Basketball Association reached a one-year agreement that will result in the contracts for NBA teams airing on Diamond expiring after the 2023–24 NBA season. Across the board, all NBA teams airing on Diamond Sports will receive a 16% reduction in the money they receive from Diamond Sports, but will be able to sell 10 games to local over-the-air networks. On December 30, 2023, the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans reached agreements with Gray Television to air 10 over-the-air games in local markets. The games will continue to be produced by Bally Sports. On December 20, 2023, Diamond Sports and the National Hockey League reached a similar agreement to the NBA's November 6 deal that will also result in the contracts for all NHL teams airing on Diamond expiring after the 2023–24 NHL season, pending approval by the bankruptcy court.

On January 17, 2024, Diamond Sports announced a restructuring agreement after receiving a minority investment from Amazon, and reaching an agreement with the Sinclair Broadcast Group for a $495 million cash payment to settle an earlier lawsuit. Under the deal, the Bally Sports app was to be folded into Amazon Prime Video. The restructuring would still need to be approved by the bankruptcy court. Diamond Sports Group officially filed its reorganization plan on March 1, 2024. As part of the plan, Diamond would end its naming rights deal with Bally's Corporation.

On May 1, 2024, Comcast and Midco dropped the Bally Sports networks as part of a carriage dispute. Optimum did the same on July 1, 2024.

On July 2, Scripps Sports, the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company, announced a deal with the Florida Panthers, which would put games over the air on WSFL-TV beginning in the 2024–25 season. On July 3, 2024, Diamond Sports Group filed a motion requesting that its contract with the Dallas Stars be terminated. On July 8, the Stars subsequently announced that it would partner with A Parent Media Co. to stream all of its games for free via the team-run streaming service Victory+ beginning in the 2024–25 season. On July 29, 2024, Comcast reached a new carriage agreement, allowing Bally Sports to be carried on the Xfinity "Ultimate TV" tier rather than on the basic service.

On August 23, 2024, Diamond Sports announced it had reached amended regional broadcast agreements with nine NHL teams and thirteen NBA teams through at least the 2024–25 season, including reductions to rights fees; the agreement will expire if Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy plan is not approved by the court. Diamond also terminated its contracts with the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans (with the latter having reached an agreement with Gray Television). It was later reported that Amazon had pulled out of its planned investment, citing that its value had been lessened by Diamond's loss of rights to multiple teams since the announcement, and that the company was prioritizing its recent investments in national broadcast rights to properties such as the NBA. On August 27, the Anaheim Ducks announced that it would move to KCOP-TV and Victory+.

The Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers' contracts with Diamond expired at the end of their 2024 regular seasons. On October 8, 2024, MLB Local Media announced that it would assume the rights to the Brewers, Guardians, and Twins beginning in the 2025 season. On October 2, 2024, Diamond Sports announced its intention to renegotiate its contracts with the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays. If the teams are unable to agree to a new contract with Diamond, their contract will be rejected. The Atlanta Braves are the only team not affected by the announcement.

Rebranding to FanDuel Sports Network, exiting bankruptcy

On October 16, 2024, it was revealed in a court filing that Diamond had reached a new sponsorship agreement with FanDuel Group, under which it intends to rebrand Bally Sports as the FanDuel Sports Network (FDSN); on October 18, 2024, Diamond officially announced the rebranding, which took effect October 21. Under the agreement, FanDuel will have the option to take a minority equity stake of up to 5% once Diamond Sports exits bankruptcy. The branding will be downplayed within programming related to high school sports. The same day, it was reported that the Miami Marlins had successfully renegotiated with Diamond to stay on FDSN.

With the rebranding, the RSNs became an indirect sister to FanDuel TV, a national sports channel (formerly TVG, which focuses on horse racing, mainstream sports studio shows that include discussion of sports betting, and international sports) owned directly by FanDuel Group; the agreement also provides options for FanDuel TV to syndicate its original programs (such as ''Up & Adams'' with Kay Adams) on FDSN, and FanDuel to resell the FDSN over-the-top service (formerly Bally Sports+) via its platforms. FanDuel president Mike Raffensperger stated that the agreement would "further cement the FanDuel brand with sports fans and provides a unique vehicle to reward our users".

A lawyer representing Major League Baseball stated that the league had shown concerns over the FanDuel agreement, including the lack of transparency regarding its negotiations, and concerns over league content being directly branded with the name of a sports betting company; MLB and the Atlanta Braves filed a joint objection on November 8, citing concerns over the company's future economic viability, and a lack of transparency. The same day, the Reds announced a mutual agreement to exit its current contract with Diamond.

On November 14, 2024, after MLB and the Atlanta Braves withdrew their objection, Diamond's reorganization plan was approved by the bankruptcy court. The company also announced that it had successfully renegotiated with the Braves, Tigers, Angels, Marlins, Cardinals, and Rays to stay on FDSN. By contrast, the Reds announced that they had reached an agreement with MLB Local Media to assume the rights for their local broadcasts beginning with the 2025 season. Following the approval of its reorganization, Diamond re-engaged with the Brewers and Reds; on December 31, 2024 and January 13, 2025 respectively, both teams announced that they would forego their previously-announced partnerships with MLB Local Media, and would remain on FDSN under new contracts in the 2025 season. Both contracts also grant extensions to the teams' over-the-top distribution rights.

On January 2, 2025, Diamond Sports Group exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy and rebranded as Main Street Sports Group.

Networks

Owned-and-operated

Affiliates

Previously owned-and-operated

Teams by network

Team-related shows and/or game replays only

† Occasional game telecasts

National programming

Current

* Association of Volleyball Professionals (owned by Bally's Corporation)
*Caribbean Series
* Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off (college hockey, produced by Bally Sports)
* Tennis tournaments (produced by Tennis Channel)
*U.S. Army Bowl
* ''American Ninja Warrior''
* Jomboy Media's Warehouse Games
* Athletes Unlimited
* Overtime Select women's basketball
*''Foul Territory'' baseball show

Former

* Atlantic Coast Conference telecasts (including college basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, softball, baseball and field hockey; produced by Raycom Sports in tandem with Bally Sports, these telecasts were distributed through separate agreements)
* Missouri Valley Conference telecasts (including college basketball, soccer, lacrosse, softball, baseball and field hockey games; produced by LTN Global Communications in tandem with Bally Sports, distributed exclusively in the Midwest and Southeast)
* AutoNation Orange Bowl Basketball Classic (produced by Bally Sports)
* College football games (produced by sister network Stadium and distributed by Bally Sports)
* College basketball games (produced by Stadium and distributed by Bally Sports)
* ''Inside the Association'' (produced by Stadium)
* ''Live on the Line'' (produced by Stadium)
* ''The Rally'' (produced by Stadium)
* West Coast Conference men's and women's college basketball
* World Poker Tour events

Related services

Direct-to-customer streaming service

Formerly named Bally Sports+, FanDuel Sports Network's over-the-top subscription streaming platform offers livestreams and market-specific video-on-demand content from its individual regional networks. In addition to offering live game telecasts from the FanDuel Sports Network regional networks, the service also provides game replays, team-centered studio programs, outdoor programming, and selected programs syndicated to the network's national and regional feeds.

In December 2020, Sinclair announced plans to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service based around the linear Bally Sports networks. The service was originally targeted for a 2021 launch, though it was delayed due to Bally Sports needing to negotiate over-the-top streaming rights with the teams. Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley stated that the service was meant to target cord cutters, whom the company felt were underserved in the regional sports market.

Bally Sports+ was soft-launched on June 23, 2022, initially available to customers residing in the service areas of Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Detroit, Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Wisconsin, and Bally Sports Florida/ Bally Sports Sun—the five markets where Bally Sports was able to negotiate streaming rights to the local MLB team. The service launched three weeks after NESN launched NESN 360, the first DTC streaming service ever offered by an American regional sports network, on June 1.

The service—which is sold for $19.99/month or $189.99/year—uses the same infrastructure as the Bally Sports app, and was initially available on smartphones and tablet devices. Due to regional rights restrictions, the service is only available to users in markets serviced by a network owned or affiliated with Bally Sports.

In August 2022, Bally Sports announced that Bally Sports+ would expand to the rest of its markets on September 26, 2022.

After Bally Sports' rebranding in October 2024, Bally Sports+ has been known as simply FanDuel Sports Network, with no plus sign included anymore.

See also

* FanDuel Sports Network app

References

External links

*

{{SportsChannel

Sinclair Broadcast Group
Allen Media Group
SportsChannel
Prime Sports
Fox Sports
Bally Sports
*
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023
Television channels and stations established in 2021
2021 establishments in the United States
2019 mergers and acquisitions
2024 mergers and acquisitions