FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports Ohio) is an American

regional sports network A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major L ...

owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) as part of the

FanDuel Sports Network 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 ...

chain. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, with a focus on professional sports teams based in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, and

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

. FanDuel Sports Network Ohio is available on

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

providers (plus U-Verse and DirecTV) throughout Ohio, as well as parts of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, northwestern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, eastern

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, border communities of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and extreme southwestern

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

; it is also available nationwide on

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

via

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

History

The channel originally launched on February 9, 1989, as SportsChannel Ohio. It launched as an affiliate of

SportsChannel SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC. Operating from March 1, ...

, a slate of regional sports networks operated as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

(the owner of

WKYC WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lo ...

until 1990). SportsChannel Ohio initially held the broadcast games from the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. The channel also aired select

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

games produced by SportsChannel Cincinnati,

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

basketball and football games, and

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

sporting events (with the exception of football and basketball). In 1997,

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

and

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in the Formula One Group, S ...

purchased a 40% interest in Cablevision's sports properties including the SportsChannel America networks (as well as

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

and its

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

team tenants, the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

) in a deal worth $850 million, forming the venture National Sports Partners to run the owned-and-operated regional networks. As part of a gradual rebranding of the SportsChannel networks that began that month, SportsChannel Ohio was rebranded as Fox Sports Ohio in January 1998. The channel was then rebranded as Fox Sports Net Ohio in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner; subsequently in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Ohio, through the networks' de-emphasis of the brand. In February 2005, News Corporation (which spun off most of its entertainment properties into

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...

in July 2013) acquired Cablevision's ownership stakes in Fox Sports Ohio and

Fox Sports Florida FanDuel Sports Network Florida is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the ...

, following an asset trade in which Fox sold its interest in Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and the Rangers, to Cablevision, in exchange for acquiring sole ownership of the two networks. The channel reverted to the Fox Sports Ohio moniker in 2008 On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies,

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from

, including Fox Sports Ohio, sister network

SportsTime Ohio SportsTime Ohio was an American regional sports network which was last known as Bally Sports Great Lakes. At the time it left the air, the network was owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate ...

, and Fox's 50% stake in the network's Cincinnati sub-feed. However, on June 27, 2018, the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. On May 3, 2019, it was announced that

Diamond Sports Group Main Street Sports Group LLC (formerly known as Diamond Sports Group LLC) is an American media and entertainment company. The company operates FanDuel Sports Network, a group of regional sports channels that was formerly known as Fox Sports Netw ...

(a partnership between

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

and

Allen Media Group Allen Media Group, alternately known by its former name of Entertainment Studios, Inc. is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved ...

) would acquire the channels as part of an agreement with Disney. The sale was completed on August 23, 2019. The network continued to operate under the Fox Sports name until March 31, 2021, when they were relaunched as

Bally Sports 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 variou ...

as part of a sponsorship deal between Diamond and casino operator

Bally's Corporation Bally's Corporation is an American gambling, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. In the US it operates 19 casinos across 11 states, a horse track in Colorado, a golf course in New York, and ...

. 150px, 2010s logo as Fox Sports Ohio On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed for

chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wh ...

. On October 21, 2024, the channel was rebranded as "FanDuel Sports Network" as part of a new agreement between Diamond and

FanDuel Group FanDuel Group is an American gambling company that offers sportsbook, daily fantasy sports, horse racing, and online casino services. The company operates sportsbooks in a number of states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virg ...

Feeds

The network operates regional feeds for the Cleveland and Cincinnati markets, both branded as FanDuel Sports Ohio (but with the latter feed disambiguated in some

electronic program guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information fo ...

s and online television listings services as "FanDuel Sports Cincinnati"), which broadcast different events depending on the market. This arrangement can cause event conflicts in the

market, which is located between Cincinnati and Cleveland. In the event of conflicting events between the two regional feeds (typically between the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

and

, the Blue Jackets and

, and the Reds and Cavaliers), TV providers in Central Ohio will carry the other game on an alternate channel.

Programming

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio holds the exclusive regional pay television rights to

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

's Cincinnati Reds (since 1991), the

's Cleveland Cavaliers (since 1990), and the

's Columbus Blue Jackets (since 2000). The channel also carries a select number of

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

games involving the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

and

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. Established in 1968, it is the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities. The university has seven constituent colleges in arts and science ...

. The network formerly held the local rights to college basketball games featuring

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

and the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

through the 2019–20 season. The channel formerly broadcast

games from the network's launch as SportsChannel Ohio, until Fox Sports Ohio lost the rights as a result of the team starting eventual sister network

in March 2006. Despite this move, Reds games continued to be blacked out in most of

Northeast Ohio Northeast Ohio is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that comprises the northeastern counties of the U.S. state of Ohio. Definitions of the region consist of 16 to 23 counties between the southern shore of Lake Erie and the foothills ...

, the designated market area of the now-Guardians. When Reds games air in the rest of Ohio, the Cleveland feed airs generic national Fox Sports Networks programming unless a local Cleveland event is scheduled. Although Fox Sports Ohio and STO came under common ownership following Fox's purchase of the latter in 2012, Bally Sports Ohio did not share broadcast rights to any sporting events with Bally Sports Great Lakes and vice versa (unlike arrangements that exist between

Fox Sports South FanDuel Sports Network South is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The network carries regional coverage of professional a ...

and

Fox Sports Southeast FanDuel Sports Network Southeast is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the channel br ...

, and

and

Fox Sports Sun FanDuel Sports Network Sun is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts local coverage of professional, co ...

), with both networks maintaining their own respective team television contracts. From 2019 to 2021,

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

games were split between Fox Sports Ohio and SportsTime Ohio, although those telecasts were blacked out in the Cincinnati area due to the presence of

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. On October 19, 2016, Fox Sports and the Reds announced an extension of their broadcast agreement to the end of the 2032 season. The deal included the Reds taking an equity stake in the Cincinnati sub-feed of Fox Sports Ohio. In November 2024, amid the Diamond Sports bankruptcy, the Reds agreed to exit the contract and would sign with

MLB Local Media MLB Local Media is a division of Major League Baseball that produces and distributes regional television broadcasts for various MLB teams. Established prior to the 2023 season, and leveraging resources from MLB Network, the division has primari ...

for the 2025 season. On January 13, 2025, the team announced that it had instead renewed with Main Street Sports Group, and would remain on FDSN Ohio for the upcoming season. FanDuel Sports Network Ohio was also the broadcaster for the AHL's

Cleveland Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team based in Cleveland. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Monsters play home games at Rocket Mortgage F ...

until 2024 when the Monsters signed a new deal with

Gray Television Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...

Notable on-air staff

Current

Cleveland Cavaliers

* John Michael – play-by-play *

Austin Carr Austin George Carr (born March 10, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and Washington Bullets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is known by Cleveland ...

– color commentator * Brad Daugherty – color commentator * Serena Winters – sideline reporter * Cayleigh Griffin – pregame/halftime/postgame host * Daniel Gibson – pregame/halftime/postgame host

Columbus Blue Jackets

Steve Mears Steve Mears (born January 22, 1980) is the television play-by-play voice of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has also called select NHL games for TNT since 2024. He previously delivered play-by-play commentary for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Personal ...

– play-by-play *

Jody Shelley Jody Shelley (born February 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He is a current broadcaster as a studio analyst and color commentator with FanDuel Sports Network Ohio and Monday Night Hockey. During his National Ho ...

– sideline reporter/color commentary * Dave Maetzold - in-game/locker room reporter * Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre - pregame/intermission/postgame (''Blue Jackets Live'') co-host * Brian Giesenschlag – pregame/intermission/postgame (''Blue Jackets Live'') co-host

Cincinnati Reds

John Sadak John Sadak (born September 15, 1979) is an American TV/radio sports announcer with the Cincinnati Reds, CBS Sports, Westwood One radio, CBS Sports Network, the ESPN family of networks and Fox Sports 1. Personal life Sadak is a two-time Rowan Un ...

- play-by-play *

Chris Welsh Christopher Charles Welsh (born April 14, 1955) is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds. Welsh spent ...

– primary color commentary/fill in co-host ''Reds Live'' *

Jeff Brantley Jeffrey Hoke Brantley (born September 5, 1963) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 14 seasons, from to . Brantley, whose nickname is Cowboy, was hired in 2006 as a broadcaster ...

– color commentary (select games) *

Barry Larkin Barry Louis Larkin (born April 28, 1964) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. As a player he spent his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Cincinnati Reds from 1986 to 2004. He briefly played in the mi ...

– color commentary (home games) *

Jim Day James E. Day (born July 7, 1946, in Thornhill, Ontario) was a Canadian Olympic equestrian show jumping champion Sam LeCure Samuel Rohrer LeCure (born May 4, 1984) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He attended Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri and the University of Texas. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinna ...

– co-host ''Reds Live''/Cincinnati Reds color commentary (select games) *

Annie Sabo Annie Sabo is a sports reporter and former anchor for Bally Sports North, currently with the Big Ten Network. She covered the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Timberwolves. She hosted the Pre-Game and Post-Game shows for both teams. She later ...

– Fill in co-host ''Reds Live''

College sports

* John Cooper – analyst for ''Game Time with Ryan Day'' *

Jim Lachey James Michael Lachey (born June 4, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Raiders, and Washington Redski ...

– analyst for ''Game Time with Ryan Day'' * Chris "Beanie" Wells – analyst for ''Game Time with Ryan Day''

Former staff

Columbus Crew

* Neil Sika – play-by-play *

Jordan Angeli Jordan Leigh Angeli (born May 31, 1986) is an American former soccer player and current soccer commentator. Known for her versatility, Angeli played for Boston Breakers in the Women's Professional Soccer, and the Washington Spirit and Western ...

– color commentary * Brett Hiltbrand – sideline reporter/pregame/halftime/postgame host (''Crew Live'')

References

External links

Official website
{{Navboxes, list1= {{SBGI {{Cincinnati Reds {{Cleveland Cavaliers {{Columbus Blue Jackets {{Lake Erie Monsters {{SportsChannel America {{U.S. regional sports networks SportsChannel Fox Sports Networks Bally Sports FanDuel Sports Network Television channels and stations established in 1989 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 1989 establishments in Ohio