Five NBA Teams Contract Set to Expire With FanDuel Network

The Hawks, Cavaliers, Heat, T’Wolves and Bucks broadcasting deals with the FanDuel Network are set to expire soon, though the deadline continues to be pushed back.

The FanDuel Network, formerly Bally Sports, is a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group).

The networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various professional, collegiate, and high school sports teams. its Programming is available to all or part of at least 33 states via various affiliate deals as well as owned-and-operated networks.

Each team has the option to return to the FanDuel Sports Network, with rights fees still providing significant value despite a fall since 2022.  They can also opt for a less lucrative linear over-the-air model ahead of the anticipated league deal for a national streaming platform.

Sports Business Journal reports:

The artificial deadline has been pushed several times -- from December 2024 to April 1 and now perhaps into this summer or beyond -- as the league office negotiates a potential national streaming RSN with Amazon, YouTube, Apple and perhaps ESPN+, Roku or others. The five teams in question had expected to be briefed on the infrastructure and financial upside of the national streaming RSN by April 1 before making decisions on their local TV futures but instead remain in limbo as the regular season winds down this month.

Based on that timeline, the five teams could likely end up in a time crunch by the end of this summer, waiting for the national streaming RSN while trying to make a local TV decision for the 2025-26 season. Going the over-the-air route means securing advertising and launching a direct-to-consumer app -- preferably not something to be rushed considering teams like the Jazz have only generated about $16M annually under the over-the-air/DTC app template.

Each of the times is likely to stay on the FanDuel Network for the time being due to the current circumstances.

Sports Business Journal notes that "Main Street has emphasized leaguewide that they remain a growing, viable business, having reduced their debt from $9B to roughly $300,000, while boosting their linear subscriptions to about 25 million and DTC subscribers to about 400,000 now that they are an add-on channel at Amazon."