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With nine MLB teams still likely poised to abandon Main Street Sports Group, three sources said Friday their exit could create financial flexibility for Main Street to avoid immediate liquidation and pay NBA and NHL teams reduced rights fees the remainder of this season. “What is bad from MLB might be good for us,” said an NBA and NHL team source asking for anonymity due to the sensitivity around the topic, which has many industry stakeholders on edge.
The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, UFC and WWE have unveiled an agreement with Fanatics, the White House and America250 that will see an exclusive USA 250 patch and logo featured on athlete uniforms and performance gear, as well as in the venues where they compete during marquee moments throughout 2026.
Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday that “multiple” NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball franchises are in “emergency talks” with Victory+ ahead of the potential shuttering of Main Street Sports Group, operator of the FanDuel Sports Network RSNs. Per previous reporting, Main Street has until the end of this month to line up a buyer before the nine MLB franchises with which it is partnered — all of whom opted out of their deals earlier this month — leave for good.
The commissioners of four major U.S. sports leagues are in conversations over being present at the Oval Office next week when President Donald Trump unveils the latest plans regarding the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Four people briefed on the planning, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, confirmed to The Athletic that the NFL’s Roger Goodell, the NBA’s Adam Silver, the NHL’s Gary Bettman and MLB’s Rob Manfred are currently set to attend the event. The exact date may be subject to change in accordance with the president’s schedule and the schedules of those expected to be in attendance. The White House and the four major leagues did not respond to requests for comment.
The commissioners of four major U.S. sports leagues are in conversations over being present at the Oval Office next week when President Donald Trump unveils the latest plans regarding the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Four people briefed on the planning, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, confirmed to The Athletic that the NFL’s Roger Goodell, the NBA’s Adam Silver, the NHL’s Gary Bettman and MLB’s Rob Manfred are currently set to attend the event.
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The drama and instability surrounding the Main Street Sports Group RSNs may soon be enough for its rights partners. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball teams who have deals with Main Street Sports Group, owner of the FanDuel Sports Network RSNs, are in one form or another preparing to move on from the company, according to a Wednesday night article by Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. Friend cited sources as saying that the MLB Cardinals — who did not receive their December rights fee payment from Main Street — have already told the company that they are opting out of their contract, and that at least six of the eight other MLB clubs in business with the company are expected to do the same.
Main Street Sports Group has missed its January payments to numerous undisclosed NBA teams, sources told SBJ today, as its delicate sale to DAZN and uncertain future has now trickled from MLB to pro basketball. In December, Main Street missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals, which triggered a Dec. 18 phone call from the NBA league office to all 13 FanDuel Sports Network teams -- alerting them that their January payments were in jeopardy. That prediction turned out to be prescient, when several of the NBA teams, if not all 13, did not receive their scheduled rights fee payments these past few days.
Main Street Sports Group has missed its January payments to numerous undisclosed NBA teams, sources told SBJ today, as its delicate sale to DAZN and uncertain future has now trickled from MLB to pro basketball.
Teams with local broadcast rights deals through Main Street Sports Group are expected to soon receive a proposal outlining a go-forward plan should DAZN complete its acquisition of the embattled regional sports network operator, a team executive told SBJ. Teams would then face a pivotal decision: accept DAZN’s proposed business plan — including any revised financial terms — or pursue alternative local distribution models. Sources said DAZN will conceivably ask teams to accept reduced rights fees as part of the sale, with the idea their payouts will still be more lucrative than what teams can fetch through over-the-air packages or through MLB TV.
Other sources said, even if multiple teams opt out due to lower right fees or other concerns, the sale to DAZN would likely be unaffected. But the caveat would be whether more than 10 of the 29 teams exit — which sources then believe might jeopardize the deal. In total, 29 MLB, NBA and NHL teams currently have rights deals with Main Street Sports Group. SBJ previously reported that if a last-ditch sale to DAZN does not close in January, Main Street would wind down operations by the end of the 2025–26 NBA and NHL regular seasons.
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Nearly a year after emerging from bankruptcy, regional sports network operator Main Street Sports is once again teetering on the brink of financial calamity. The company is in advanced talks on a deal to sell itself to DAZN, the London-based sports streamer. If an agreement for DAZN to take majority control does not happen by January, however, Main Street Sports is planning to shut itself down entirely, industry sources said. Such a move would revert the local rights of nine Major League Baseball teams, 13 in the NBA, and seven in the NHL back to those respective leagues and franchises. Resolution on the future path of Main Street Sports is expected by early January. MLB’s Cardinals did not receive a scheduled December rights payment from Main Street Sports, and there is a chance that several other teams, particularly in the NBA, could suffer the same fate in the coming weeks. St. Louis, however, has not terminated its rights agreement.
Coming out of bankruptcy with a much lighter debt load, Main Street Sports has struck partnerships with companies such as Amazon and FanDuel, including rebranding its TV channels and direct-to-consumer offering as FanDuel Sports Network. Today, Main Street Sports has the local rights to 29 major league teams in the U.S., across the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.
Statements made by Panini inside a private sales pitch meeting, as well as within a 90-page confidential document given to potential buyers earlier this year and seen by The Athletic, raise questions about Panini’s court claims that the company would be seriously harmed without NFL, NBA and other top league licenses — the key to allowing team names and logos to appear on sports cards. In its ongoing lawsuit against Fanatics, Panini claims that “any firm that fails to win the rights to produce and sell trading cards for players of at least one of the Leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA) is eliminated as a competitor” in those markets.
Lacob is “definitely interested” in the idea of buying another franchise, maybe in MLB or the NHL, but has already passed up one lucrative opportunity. Back in 2012, as fans booed Lacob out of the Oracle Arena spotlight, the Dodgers were up for sale again.