FanDuel Sports Networks on Death Row as Company Misses January Payments to NBA Teams

If you use FanDuel Sports Networks to watch your local NBA, MLB, or NHL teams, things could get very messy for you. According to Sports Business Journal, FanDuel’s parent company missed its January payments to several NBA partners.

SBJ reports Main Street Sports (FanDuel’s parent) still owes its 13 NBA teams about $180 million this season. A European sports streamer called DAZN is allegedly trying to buy out those regional sports networks. If that deal falls through, SBJ reports Main Street will shut down at the end of the NBA and NHL seasons, but the company would plan to produce games until then.

Teams that may lose FanDuel could either produce games themselves or ask the league to step in. It’s also possible a company like Disney/ESPN could cherry-pick the rights they want most and leave other teams to fend for themselves.

Previously, teams like the Suns and Pelicans were affiliated with FanDuel, but chose to offer games free over the air. What they lose in revenue from FanDuel is offset by a much larger audience.

In the case of former FanDuel MLB teams like the Padres, MLB.TV stepped in to take over the operation. (ESPN is now in charge of MLB.TV production moving forward.)

In September, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro suggested ESPN may be interested in taking a larger chunk of the regional landscape. “Local is super interesting to us, and we’ve made that clear,” Pitaro said.

What Teams Partner with FanDuel Sports Network?