The regional sports network model didn't die yesterday. It's been on life support for years. What happened on Wednesday was simply nine MLB teams finally pulling the plug.
The Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays all terminated their broadcast agreements with FanDuel Sports Network — the entity formerly known as Bally Sports, formerly known as Diamond Sports Group, a company that has emerged from bankruptcy only to stumble right back into financial instability.
The numbers tell the real story
Main Street Sports Group, which operates the FanDuel networks, missed its December payment to the Cardinals. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, they also missed a payment to the Marlins due on January 1. Meanwhile, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal reported the Rays might have been the only team to actually receive their 2026 rights fee payment on time.
That's not a business model. That's a countdown.
"No matter what happens, whether it's Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games," Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday at a press conference in New York.
We've seen this movie before
MLB took over broadcasts for San Diego in May 2023 after Diamond Sports missed a payment to the Padres. Arizona followed that July. Colorado joined in 2024, Cleveland and Minnesota in 2025. Seattle is being added this season.
The pattern is clear: teams wait until they absolutely can't wait anymore, then move to MLB Media.
What's different now is the scale. Nine teams at once represents a tipping point. Main Street holds 29 total teams in its portfolio across MLB, NBA, and NHL. Per the Sports Business Journal, the company was negotiating a sale to DAZN, but those talks are "teetering" — and without a buyer, the network could shutter entirely after the current NBA and NHL seasons.
Detroit's defensive play
The Tigers, in particular, have been preparing for this moment. According to Bless You Boys, Detroit signed play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti as a team employee rather than a FanDuel one — a small but telling move that shows where the franchise sees this heading.
Regional rights fees have traditionally been a lifeline for mid-market clubs. They fund payroll, facility upgrades, and front office operations. But the traditional RSN model assumed cable subscribers would keep paying for channels they rarely watched. That assumption died years ago.
What this actually means
Manfred was careful to note that these terminations don't necessarily mean teams are abandoning FanDuel permanently. "The clubs have control over the timing," he said. "They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now."
In other words: the door isn't closed, but teams aren't sitting around waiting for Main Street to get its act together.
The real question is whether MLB's centralized approach can generate comparable revenue. The league has been deliberate about how quickly it wants to consolidate local media rights. A fully unified streaming model remains on the horizon, not yet reality.
For now, teams like the Tigers are left evaluating their options — cable partnerships, streaming services, or league-controlled broadcasts. None of them are perfect. All of them are probably better than waiting for checks that might not come.
Baseball has spent decades letting local broadcast deals anchor its economic model. That era isn't ending tomorrow. But Wednesday made it clear the end is closer than the league probably wants to admit.