FanDuel Sports Network Southeast 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 ...

. Headquartered in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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 ...

, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

, with a focus on professional sports teams based in Atlanta,

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 ...

, and Charlotte. FanDuel Sports Network Southeast 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 throughout

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 ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and parts of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

(roughly from Asheville to Charlotte); 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 ...

. The channel's programming reaches an estimated 8.9 million cable and satellite subscribers.

History

The channel traces its history to Turner South, a cable and satellite television channel that was launched on October 1, 1999, by the

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its asse ...

. It was the first regional entertainment network developed especially for viewers in the southern U.S., featuring a mix of

movies A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

and drama series, regional news updates, and unique original programming. The channel also carried coverage of professional sports events from the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

Major League Baseball 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 ...

, the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

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

, and the

National Hockey League 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 ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

, all of which were owned by Turner at the network's launch and the former two of which also aired in the Atlanta market and nationwide on Turner-owned TBS. Turner Broadcasting/Time Warner restricted Turner South's distribution to its designated broadcast territory in the southeastern United States, with satellite providers that carried the channel being required to black out the channel in areas not covered by the ZIP codes in Turner South's coverage area.

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 ...

filed a lawsuit against Turner Broadcasting and its corporate parent

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

in a Georgia Superior Court on June 15, 1999, citing that the plans Turner had unveiled to carry sports events on Turner South violated a

non-compete agreement In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

that the two companies signed as part of News Corporation's $65 million purchase of the original SportSouth in 1996, which prohibited Turner from launching a regional sports network in the southeastern United States until 2008.

Sale to Fox Sports Networks

On February 23, 2006,

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 ...

's then-parent company News Corporation, looking to further expand its roster of sports teams and events, purchased Turner South for $375 million. The deal included all existing sports contracts, involving teams that sister network-to-be FSN South (now Bally Sports South) also held the regional cable television rights to broadcast. After the deal was completed, FSN sought a new name for the channel, with network officials eventually chose to rebrand it as SportSouth, after coming up with about 60 different suggestions. The SportSouth name was originally used as the name for what is now Bally Sports South, which was founded by Turner Broadcasting in 1990 and was purchased by News Corporation's Fox Cable Networks unit in 1996, becoming a charter outlet of Fox Sports Net. Under Turner ownership, the original SportSouth carried Braves and Hawks games, as well as NBA games from the Charlotte Hornets,

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

events, college sports and some syndicated programs. Turner South officially relaunched as SportSouth on October 13, 2006, becoming the 15th regional sports network owned as part of Fox Sports Net; the rebrand took place with its first official event broadcast: an NHL game between the Atlanta Thrashers and the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

. The relaunched channel dropped all non-sports entertainment programming, replacing it with other regionally produced programs and national sports news, documentary and magazine programming sourced by FSN. On-air promotions for SportSouth included sports figures native to the South such as

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nicknam ...

, Bob Hartley, Bo Jackson and Heath Shuler. Originally, the two networks only shared broadcast rights to Atlanta-based teams, while FSN South exclusively broadcast games from the NBA's

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

, Major League Baseball's

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

and the NHL's

and

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

. However, FSN South and SportSouth gradually began sharing rights to sports events from other teams during the late 2000s. In 2008, select Major League Baseball games from the

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 ...

and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

were added to SportSouth's schedule (via sister network FSN Midwest), subject to league territorial restrictions. This ensures that both those teams and the Predators have the maximum number of games able to be televised. In August 2007, News Corporation lifted SportSouth's regional blackout restrictions, allowing the channel to be carried nationwide by

on its "Sports Pack"; however, some professional sporting events are still subject to blackout restrictions imposed by the major sports leagues for national telecasts. On August 28 of that year, SportSouth acquired the television rights to

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

sporting events, in a package that includes encore presentations of twelve

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games, live telecasts of four

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games, four

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

games and six Olympic sporting events, as well as rights to the team's coaches shows for the former three sports. The Atlanta Braves' relationship with SportSouth and

independent station An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...

WPCH-TV WPCH-TV (channel 17), branded as Peachtree TV, is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by locally based Gray Media alongside CBS affiliate and company flagship WANF (channel 46), and l ...

(channel 17) – which until October 2007, served as the local broadcast version of TBS – intersected in 2011, when sister network Fox Sports South began producing an annual package of Braves games for the station that were not broadcast by the two networks. On March 1, 2013, Fox Sports South and SportSouth announced that they would acquire the rights to the 45 games, ending the team's contract with WPCH-TV beginning with the 2013 season, marking the first season in 40 years that the team's game telecasts did not air in the Atlanta market on broadcast television until 2025, when WPCH-TV returned to airing selected games as simulcasts from the cable channel.

Rebranding to Fox Sports Southeast

On August 24, 2015, Fox announced that SportSouth would be rebranded as Fox Sports Southeast. The name change took effect six weeks later on its target date of October 5. Fox Sports Networks senior vice president and general manager Jeff Genthner felt that the re-branding of FSN South as Fox Sports South may have caused viewer confusion due to the similar names. Consumer research conducted in the Charlotte, Memphis and Atlanta markets found that viewers were confused about the autonomy of Fox Sports South and SportSouth, the latter network's relation to the Fox Sports regional networks, and perceived that Fox Sports South had better programming. Network management reportedly had been considering a name change for the channel since 2012, including the use of a numerical brand for SportSouth (similar to that used by national sister networks

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

and Fox Sports 2), and color-code branding (with the main network as "Fox Sports South Red" and the secondary network as "Fox Sports South Blue").

New ownership, rebranding to Bally Sports

On August 22, 2019, the Fox Sports Networks were sold to

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 ...

via the joint venture Diamond Sports Group. Fox divested its regional sports networks under antitrust grounds as part of the acquisition of

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 ...

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 ...

. On March 31, 2021, the channel, along with all other FSN channels, was rebranded under the new

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 ...

brand. On March 14, 2023, Diamond 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 ...

. 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 took effect October 21. Under the agreement, Bally's regional networks were rebranded with corresponding names such as FanDuel Sports Network South, etc.

Programming

FanDuel Sports Network Southeast and FanDuel Sports Network South hold the exclusive regional cable television rights to the

franchise; the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

and

of the

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 the

and

of 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 ...

br>

Teams by Media Market

Note: In Kentucky, most of North Carolina, and parts of Mississippi, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast is not available. In these areas all games are shown on FanDuel Sports Network South or an alternate channel.

On-air staff

Commentators

Atlanta Braves

* Brandon Gaudin – play-by-play announcer * C. J. Nitkowski – analyst *

Jeff Francoeur Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals ...

– analyst * Wiley Ballard – reporter / alternate play-by-play announcer / ''Braves Live'' fill-in pre-game and post-game host * Paul Byrd – analyst / reporter * Treavor Scales – ''Braves LIVE'' pre-game and post-game host * Nick Green – ''Braves Live'' analyst / ''Braves Live'' fill-in pre-game and post-game host * Peter Moylan – ''Braves Live'' analyst * Hanna Yates – reporter

Atlanta Hawks

* Bob Rathbun – play-by-play announcer *

Dominique Wilkins Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is a French-born American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seve ...

– analyst * Tabitha Turner – sideline reporter * Treavor Scales – ''Hawks LIVE'' pre-game and post-game host * Brian Oliver – ''Hawks LIVE'' analyst *

Vince Carter Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. (born January 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 22 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, b ...

- analyst (select games) and ''Hawks Live'' fill-in pre-game and post-game host

Charlotte Hornets

* Eric Collins – play-by-play announcer * Dell Curry – analyst * Shannon Spake – in-game reporter / ''Hornets LIVE'' pre-game and post-game host * Terrence Oglesby ''Hornets LIVE'' analyst (Home Games Only)

Memphis Grizzlies

* Pete Pranica – play-by-play announcer * Brevin Knight – analyst * Rob Fischer – sideline reporter and ''Grizzlies LIVE'' pre-game and post-game host * Chris Vernon - ''Grizzlies Live'' pre-game and post-game analyst (home games only)

Atlanta Dream

* Angel Gray – play-by-play announcer * Autumn Johnson – alternate play-by-play announcer * LaChina Robinson – analyst * Tabitha Turner – sideline reporter

Former announcers

* Kevin Egan – Atlanta United play-by-play announcer * Maurice Edu – Atlanta United analyst * Jillian Sakovits – sideline reporter / ''Atlanta United LIVE'' host * Kelly Crull - reporter / ''Braves LIVE'' fill-in pre-game and post-game host * Rebecca Kaple – sideline reporter * Ashley ShahAhmadi – sideline reporter / ''Hornets LIVE'' host * Chip Caray – Atlanta Braves play-by-play announcer * Andre Aldridge – sideline reporter / ''Hawks LIVE'' host * Mike Glenn – ''Hawks LIVE'' analyst * Gerald Henderson ''Hornets LIVE'' analyst * Jerome Jurenovich – ''Braves LIVE'' and ''Hawks LIVE'' pre-game and post-game host * Brian Jordan – ''Braves LIVE'' analyst

References

External links

* {{Atlanta TV Fox Sports Networks Television channels and stations established in 2006 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 2006 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Bally Sports