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The Angels have responded in unique fashion to the ongoing decline of Main Street Sports Group, buying out the regional sports network operator’s 50% equity interest in FanDuel Sports Network West.
Instead of forming their own RSN, like the Braves and Tigers have done, or aligning with MLB Media in-house model for local production, as 14 other MLB clubs have, the Angels will fully own and operate the existing network. The franchise will keep the FanDuel name, and it will continue to be distributed as it was before on its current cable and satellite channels.
Additionally, the Angels will retain the NHL’s Kings on the network. The hockey team will continue to be shown on FanDuel Sports Network West for the duration of the current hockey season and all of the 2026–27 campaign.
“Bringing this regional sports network under our umbrella allows us to strengthen fan access to both teams,” said Angels president John Carpino. “This opportunity provides a seamless transition for viewers while continuing to offer the same high-quality broadcasts they have come to expect.”
The Angels were one of nine MLB clubs to sever ties with Main Street Sports last month.
Despite the move to become the sole owner of FanDuel Sports Network West, the Angels will also stream their games through the MLB Media platform. The club’s response to the Main Street Sports issues, however, stands alone within MLB. Main Street Sports, formerly Diamond Sports Group, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization early last year, but has not been able to find a firm financial footing since then amid ongoing declines across regional sports TV.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Angels will now be in the position of receiving the network’s carriage fees from cable and satellite TV operators, instead of garnering a rights fee. The MLB club will also be responsible for paying the Kings to carry those games.
What’s Next
In the near term, not much will change for Angels fans wanting to watch games. The existing on-air talent of Wayne Randazzo, color analyst Mark Gubicza, and reporter Erica Weston remains in place.
Ultimately, though, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred intends to pool as many local team media rights as he can in 2028 in order to combine them with expiring national rights and go back to the market in a much more comprehensive way. That, in turn, will allow the league to aggregate more of its media revenue and potentially smooth out rising economic disparity within the sport.
“If you do national deals and a certain number of games are included, the games that are left over, if there’s a centralized approach there, it’s a lot easier to get into a world where a fan has a reduced number of places to look for a particular game,” Manfred said last fall at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit.
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