MLB Teams Seek Stability As Main Street Sports Looks to Rework Deals

Main Street Sports Group, the embattled parent company of the FanDuel Sports Network, is trying to retain the nine MLB clubs that terminated their local media-rights contracts last week. Those franchises, however, are looking for more certainty about the regional sports network operator’s future. 

As the situation around Main Street Sports continues to be shaky, the company has tendered revised rights offers to the set of MLB teams. Those amended bids in many cases included, according to industry sources, a move away from fixed rights fees that are standard in agreements between teams and RSNs. Instead, the offers included a hybrid model with profit-sharing elements, as well as reductions and deferrals in guaranteed fees.

The inclusion of the profit sharing more closely resembles the framework of MLB Media, which produces and distributes the local games for seven teams, most recently bringing in the Nationals. That number could soar beyond half of the league if Main Street Sports collapses—as is a possibility—and all of the nine teams join the league structure. In MLB Media, the local broadcasting revenue is based on what MLB and the teams can generate in each involved market. 

The ability for Main Street Sports to reach a revised agreement with any of the teams rests heavily on its ability to find a new financial backer. The company has been in discussions with DAZN about the London-based outlet acquiring Main Street Sports, but that potential pact is looking increasingly unlikely. 

Revenue Considerations

In any scenario, there is a near-certainty that the involved clubs will receive less revenue in the short term from their local broadcasting—an additional and thorny consideration as MLB and the MLB Players Association begin labor talks this year.

Before an outcome is determined, however, the Cardinals have already moved to handle their TV advertising sale in-house. That club was among the first to not receive a scheduled rights payment from Main Street Sports, in turn accelerating the current crisis. 

MLB or the nine clubs have not commented on the latest developments surrounding Main Street Sports. Last week, though, league commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB Media is ready to take on any or all of those teams, and that the games will remain available to fans.

“Our focus, particularly given the point in the calendar, is to maximize the revenue that’s available to the clubs, whether that’s MLB Media or a third party,” Manfred said in response to a Front Office Sports question.

Main Street Sports also has the rights to 20 teams across the NBA and NHL.