FanDuel Sports Network Florida 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) and operated as an affiliate of

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 ...

. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the state of Florida, with a focus on professional sports teams based in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

and

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

. FanDuel Sports Network Florida maintains production facilities and offices located in Fort Lauderdale, alongside sister network

FanDuel Sports Network 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, col ...

. The channel is available on

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

providers throughout Florida, and in parts of southern

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

; 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

FanDuel Sports Network Florida was launched on December 29, 1987, as SportsChannel Florida. It was originally owned by

Rainbow Media AMC Networks Inc. is an American mass media and entertainment corporation headquartered in Pennsylvania Plaza, 11 Penn Plaza, New York City. The company owns and operates the AMC (TV channel), AMC cable channel, BBC America, IFC (American TV ch ...

(a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation), and was the fourth regional network of

SportsChannel America 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, ...

. The network originally featured coverage of local college teams, holding the broadcast rights to televise select games from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

and

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonvill ...

. In addition to national SportsChannel programming, the channel also showed a combined 100 baseball games that featured the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

from

SportsChannel New York MSG Sportsnet (MSGSN, formerly MSG Plus) is an American regional sports network owned by Sphere Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cove ...

, and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

games broadcast by

SportsChannel Chicago Fox Sports Net Chicago (often branded as FSN Chicago) was an American regional sports network that was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and was owned by Cablevision for most of its history (from 1987 to 2005). News Corporation acquired a minori ...

. In the spring of 1988, SportsChannel Florida obtained the regional cable television rights to broadcast

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 ...

games from the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, effective with the 1988–89 season. In 1992, SportsChannel lost the television contract to the Heat to then-rival

Sunshine Network 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 ...

. Heat games would return to the channel in the late 1990s when both networks came under the ownership of Fox Sports parent

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 ...

. In 1996,

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

owner

Wayne Huizenga Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. (; December 29, 1937 – March 22, 2018) was an American businessman. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins of the National Football ...

purchased a 70% controlling interest in SportsChannel Florida, with Rainbow Media (by that time, 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 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 ...

) retaining a minority 30% interest. That led Huizenga to move the

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 ...

franchise's game telecasts from Sunshine Network to SportsChannel Florida for the 1996–97 season. The following year in 1997, SportsChannel Florida obtained the rights to the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

– also owned by Huizenga – which moved 35 games (half the schedule) from the Sunshine Network in that year's Major League Baseball season, with all games moving the following season. In 1998, SportsChannel Florida also gained the regional cable rights to the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

Major League Baseball expansion team. Unlike the other networks that were members of the SportsChannel America chain, Huizenga's control of SportsChannel Florida prevented the channel from joining

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

. Shortly after Cablevision and Fox Sports announced the merger in 1997, Cablevision ceased production of its national SportsChannel programming in favor of Fox Sports Net's programming (though the networks would not officially rebrand until early the next year). Since SportsChannel Florida did not have rights to the Fox Sports Net programming, SportsChannel Florida made an affiliation agreement with

CNN/SI CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) was a 24-hour sports news network. Created when Time Warner merged its CNN and ''Sports Illustrated'' brands, it launched on December 12, 1996. Other news networks like ESPNews provided 30-minute blocks of news ...

to carry its programming instead. Cablevision finally repurchased Huizenga's share of the network in November 1999. The network was relaunched as Fox Sports Net Florida on March 1, 2000, making it the last SportsChannel network to adopt the Fox Sports Net brand. At this time Fox Sports Net programming was moved from the Sunshine Network (which Fox only had a minority-interest in) and CNN/SI programming was phased out. In February 2005, News Corporation acquired Cablevision's ownership stakes in Fox Sports Florida and

Fox Sports Ohio FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports Ohio) is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) as part of the FanDuel Sports Network chain. The channel broadcasts regional cove ...

, following an asset trade in which Fox sold its interest in Madison Square Garden and the arena's NBA and NHL 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 ...

, to Cablevision, in exchange for acquiring sole ownership of the two Fox Sports regional networks. News Corporation 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. Bally_Sports_Florida_logo

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 Florida. 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,

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

Entertainment Studios 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 ...

(through their joint venture, Diamond Sports Group) bought

Fox Sports Networks Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on M ...

from

for $10.6 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2019. On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with 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 ...

to serve as a new

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021. On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the start of the

2021 Major League Baseball season The 2021 Major League Baseball season began on April 1, while the regular season ended on October 3. The postseason began on October 5. The World Series then began on October 26 and ended on November 2 with the Atlanta Braves defeating the Houst ...

the next day, Fox Sports Florida and sister network Fox Sports Sun rebranded as Bally Sports Florida and Bally Sports Sun, which resulted in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions. The first live sporting event on Bally Sports Florida will be the Marlins home opener against the Rays on April 1.

Bankruptcy

On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports, the parent company of Bally Sports, filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy 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, w ...

, 30 days after they failed to make a $140M interest payment. Diamond’s first-lien lenders will not be affected as part of the restructuring support agreement, but other creditors will convert their debt into equity. Diamond also plans to separate from Sinclair and become an entirely new entity. On July 2, 2024, Bally Sports Florida and the

of the National Hockey League mutually agreed to terminate their broadcasting contract early. That same day, the Panthers announced a new broadcast deal with the

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

Scripps Sports Scripps Sports is the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company; it is responsible for the broadcasting of sporting events across its broadcast television portfolio, including local stations and co-owned networks (such as Ion Television). Hi ...

, which would put games over-the-air on Scripps-owned

WSFL-TV WSFL-TV (channel 39) is an independent television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Ion Television owned-and-operated station WPXM-TV (channel 35). WSFL-TV's studios are located on Sout ...

and

WHDT WHDT (channel 9) is an independent television station licensed to Stuart, Florida, United States, serving the West Palm Beach area. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, E.W. Scripps Company alongside NBC affiliate WPTV-TV (channel 5); Scrip ...

West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. On October 16, 2024, it was revealed in a court filing that Diamond had reached a new sponsorship agreement with

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 ...

, under which it intends to rebrand Bally Sports as the FanDuel Sports Network; on October 18, 2024, Diamond officially announced the rebranding, which will take 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.

Programming

FanDuel Sports Network Florida holds the regional cable television rights to the NBA's

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

and the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

of Major League Baseball. FanDuel Sports Network Florida shares the broadcast rights to the aforementioned professional sports teams with

Bally 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 Miami Heat games transmitted to cable providers in

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, and Orlando Magic games aired exclusively on Bally Sports Florida in Central and Northern Florida. The two channels do not focus on one region of Florida, but simply distribute games in accordance with each team's territorial rights, with both cable channels maintaining exclusivity over regional broadcasts of Lightning, Heat, Marlins, Rays and Magic games. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Miami Heat and Tampa Bay Rays are televised on FanDuel Sports Network Sun, while the Orlando Magic and Miami Marlins are televised on FanDuel Sports Network Florida. Additionally, each network televises exclusive shoulder programming highlighting the team, players and coaches on the corresponding network.

Notable on-air staff

Current

* David Steele - Orlando Magic play-by-play announcer *

Jeff Turner Jeffrey Steven Turner (born April 9, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player and broadcasting announcer. Turner played ten NBA seasons (1984–1987; 1989–1996), spending time with the New Jersey Nets as well as the Orlando M ...

- Orlando Magic color analyst * Dante Marchitelli - Orlando Magic studio host and reporter * Brian Hill - Orlando Magic studio analyst *

Quentin Richardson Quentin Lamar Richardson (born April 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who was formerly the director of player development for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Q-Ball", he p ...

- Orlando Magic studio analyst *

Craig Minervini Craig Minervini is an American sports broadcaster who is the studio host for Bally Sports Florida's Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers broadcasts. Early life Minervini grew up on Long Island. He attended Commack High School South and co-starred ...

- Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers studio host and reporter * Jessica Blaylock - Florida Panthers studio host and reporter * Kyle Sielaff - Miami Marlins play-by-play announcer * Jeff Nelson - Miami Marlins studio analyst and color analyst *

Gaby Sánchez Gabriel Sánchez (born September 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida/Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the ...

- Miami Marlins studio analyst and color analyst *

Rod Allen Roderick Bernet Allen (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current game analyst for the Miami Marlins on Fan Duel Sports Network Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the Detroit Tigers on ...

- Miami Marlins color analyst *

Tommy Hutton Thomas George Hutton (born April 20, 1946) is an American former professional baseball infielder-outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos. Hu ...

- Miami Marlins studio analyst and color analyst

Former

Alex Chappell Alex Chappell ( Corddry; born October 10, 1988) is an American journalist for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) covering the Washington Nationals. She also works as a sideline reporter for ESPN and for SEC Network for college football coverage ...

- Tampa Bay Rays pre and post-game reporter now with

and

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between two Major League Baseball franchises, the Baltimore Orioles (which owns a controlling 77% interest) and the Washington Nationals (which o ...

Laura Rutledge Laura Rutledge (née McKeeman; born October 2, 1988) is an American reporter and host for ESPN and the SEC Network. She is an American beauty pageant titleholder from St. Petersburg, Florida, who was named Miss Florida 2012. Biography She won th ...

- Tampa Bay Rays pre and post-game reporter now with

SEC Network SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...

Allison Williams Allison Howell Williams (born April 13, 1988) is an American actress. She first received attention on YouTube and as a member of the improv comedy troupe Just Add Water. She then played Marnie Michaels in the HBO comedy-drama series ''Girls'' ...

- Miami Marlins in-game reporter, Formerly of

and now with

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

Joe Magrane Joseph David Magrane (born July 2, 1964) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, and Chicago White Sox between 1987 and 1996, and is currently a color commentary broad ...

- Tampa Bay Rays analyst now with

MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...

* Kevin Kennedy - Tampa Bay Rays analyst * Kelly Nash - Tampa Bay Rays pre and post-game reporter now with

and NHL Network *

Rich Waltz Rich Waltz (born October 22, 1962) is an American television play-by-play commentator currently calling college football, basketball for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network. Waltz also calls MLB for MLB Network's '' Showcase'' telecasts and Apple ...

- Miami Marlins Announcer formerly with

MLB on TBS ''MLB on TBS'' is an American presentation of regular season and postseason Major League Baseball (MLB) game telecasts that air on the American pay television network TBS and the streaming service Max. The games are produced by TNT Sports (fo ...

, and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

baseball play-by-play announcer now with College Football and Basketball play-by-play on

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

, and

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...

Todd Hollandsworth Todd Mathew Hollandsworth (born April 20, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). In , he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, setting a record as the fifth consecutive Los Angele ...

- Miami Marlins color analyst *

J. P. Arencibia Jonathan Paul Arencibia (born January 5, 1986) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He is serving as the bench coach for the Syracuse Mets. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, and Ta ...

- Miami Marlins studio analyst * Steve Goldstein - Florida Panthers play-by-play announcer *

Randy Moller Randall W. Moller (born August 23, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted in the first round, eleventh overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1981 National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft. The majority of his ca ...

- Florida Panthers color analyst *

Ed Jovanovski Edward Jovanovski (born June 26, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, and is of Macedonian descent. Jovanovski played major junior ice hockey for two seasons with the Windsor Spitfi ...

- Florida Panthers studio analyst *

Jeff Chychrun Jeff Chychrun (born May 3, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers. Playi ...

- Florida Panthers studio analyst *

Paul Severino Paul Severino (born October 5, 1983) is an American sportscaster and studio host appearing across MLB Network's programming, including ''MLB Tonight'', MLB Network's Emmy Award-winning daily studio show.Bright House Networks Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet provi ...

, the largest cable system in

central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

, refused to carry the channel. The conflict stemmed from the system's previous existence as Cablevision (a brand unaffiliated with the

Bethpage, New York Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Isla ...

-based cable provider of the same name), and continued through its acquisition by

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...

and, later, Bright House. This issue did not change following Fox Sports' acquisition of

Sun Sports 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, col ...

, now known as Bally Sports Sun, which Bright House already carried on its Orlando area lineup, and continued even after the Orlando Magic moved half of the televised games in its schedule from

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

WRBW WRBW (channel 65), branded on-air as Fox 35 Plus, is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, serving as the local outlet for the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fo ...

(channel 65) to Fox Sports Florida in 2007. Fox Sports Net's sister subsidiary

Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (stylized as FOX TV STATIONS; also known as FTS) is a group of television stations in the United States owned-and-operated by Fox Corporation. It owns LiveNOW from Fox, Fox Local, and Fox Soul. It also oversees ...

had earlier purchased WRBW (then a

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

affiliate) in Orlando in 2001, followed by its purchase of

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

affiliate

WOFL WOFL (channel 35) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station WRBW (channel ...

(channel 35) in 2002. On paper, this gave News Corporation – the corporate parent of the Fox Sports Networks at the time – the right to require Bright House to carry Fox Sports Florida as part of its

retransmission consent Retransmission consent is a provision of the 1992 United States Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act that requires cable operators and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to obtain permission from commerc ...

compensation agreement for carriage of WOFL and WRBW, but Fox chose not to exercise that right. Bright House would agree to carry Fox Sports Florida on its Orlando system, with the channel being added on

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previo ...

channel 50 on January 1, 2009. News Corporation and Bright House reached a new retransmission agreement on January 1, 2010, preventing both Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports from being dropped from the provider's central Florida system. Fox would want Bright House to return Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports to the provider's

service area on February 12, 2010. Fox Sports Florida was also not available on

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

systems in the

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

and

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

markets until 2006, and remains unavailable on Comcast's Lake County systems. Orlando Magic games aired on the channel are blacked out by Comcast in the

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

market.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes, list1= {{Florida Panthers {{Miami Heat {{Miami Marlins {{Orlando Magic {{SBGI {{Tampa Bay TV {{Orlando TV {{Miami TV {{WPB TV {{Jacksonville TV {{Ft. Myers TV {{Tallahassee TV {{Fox Sports Networks {{SportsChannel America {{U.S. regional sports networks FanDuel Sports Network Bally Sports Fox Sports Networks Sports in Florida SportsChannel Television channels and stations established in 1987 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 1987 establishments in Florida