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Diamond Sports Group has officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection—with both a new vision for the business and a new name.
The regional sports network operator has completed its restructuring, finalizing a reorganization plan that gained court approval in November. With the company’s reemergence, it will now be known as Main Street Sports Group. The new name, of course, provides some separation from the DSG brand that became heavily damaged during a 20-month bankruptcy proceeding but also leans further in to its local media focus.
“With a stronger balance sheet, key partnerships, [and] supportive new owners, we are modernizing our business to thrive in a changing media landscape,” said Main Street Sports CEO David Preschlack.
The company’s network of 16 individual RSNs will still carry FanDuel branding, part of a naming-rights deal completed in October that is a fundamental component of the bankruptcy reorganization.
Main Street Sports currently holds local rights for 13 NBA teams, eight NHL teams, and eight MLB clubs. That latter count of baseball deals rose by one earlier this week after the Brewers surprisingly reversed their prior plan to work with MLB’s in-house model in 2025 and instead agreed to a restructured agreement with Main Street Sports.
“The decision to continue our rights agreement with FanDuel Sports Network ensures that fans will have seamless access to watch the Brewers in 2025, while enjoying the same high-quality production and roster of on-air talent that fans have enjoyed over the years,” said Rick Schlesinger, Brewers president of business operations.
Six MLB clubs—the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres, Reds, Rockies, and Twins—are still with the league model for the upcoming season, and commissioner Rob Manfred is still working on a long-term plan to pool the sports’ regional and national media rights.
Comprehensive Steps Taken
Main Street Sports’ debt load of about $9 billion going into bankruptcy protection has been reduced to $200 million, in no small part through agreements in which some bondholders exchanged that debt for equity.
The company also completed a critical deal with Amazon last fall for the streaming and online retail giant to help distribute live games. The company overhaul, long thought by many to be an unlikely outcome at best, additionally included several other key steps such as an operational separation from Sinclair, the retooling of rights deals with the NBA and NHL, and the resolution of several legal disputes.
