Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Donald Glover greet Yoshi after throwing out the first pitch before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
A group of regional sports networks is set to wind down, marking the demise of a once lucrative business and leaving the fate of local baseball, basketball and hockey broadcasts in the balance — even as live sports command the highest TV ratings.
RSNs have felt arguably the greatest pressure from the losses that plague the pay TV bundle as consumers switch to streaming. Now, the model is in rapid decline.
Last week, as the 2026 MLB season got underway, the league announced it was taking over media distribution for 14 teams. In large part, this was the result of the inevitable wind down of Main Street Sports – formerly Fox Sports networks, which have been through different owners since 2019 and several name changes since 2021.
Main Street emerged from bankruptcy protection in late 2024, and despite touting subscriber growth as recently as last spring, the operator faced another liquidity crunch earlier this year when MLB rights payments were due, according to people familiar with the matter.
Main Street owned roughly 15 channels, but at one point aired 30 MLB, NHL and NBA teams after exiting bankruptcy.
Though the company was in sale talks earlier this year with the likes of DAZN and Fubo, the discussions never amounted to a deal, according to the people.
Rumors of liquidation circulated — in the middle of the NBA and NHL seasons — but Main Street has so far been able to stave that off. Instead, MLB teams went their separate ways at the beginning of the season – some shifting to MLB distribution, and some like the Anaheim Angels and Atlanta Braves are taking over the production and distribution of their own regional channels.
The NBA and NHL regular seasons are expected to be completed through their current Main Street-owned networks – now branded as FanDuel Sports networks. But after the NBA regular season and the first round of the NHL playoffs, Main Street plans to begin an earnest end-of-business process, one of the people said.
The future for the remaining NBA and NHL teams are yet to be determined, although some are likely to find homes with broadcast station owners that have been acquiring local rights, such as Scripps, according to a person close to the negotiations.
And the end of the RSN model doesn't stop there.
The fees long paid by the networks to host games have propped up professional sports leagues for a long time – especially MLB, known to have some of the most expensive rights fees and the most tonnage of local games. The upending of the RSN model is sure to send ripple effects throughout these teams.
Those that have already exited the RSN model have sought refuge in direct-to-consumer streaming apps, which are pretty expensive monthly or annual costs for fans, and through agreements with broadcast station owners, which argue they offer the widest reach of any platform for sports games.
There's also been an increased emphasis on advertising, but that revenue stream is helpful when it comes to the NBA and NHL, it doesn't go as far to support MLB, according to industry insiders.
There's also been little, if any, crossover for MLB teams to the affiliate networks, once again because of the expense and number of games, according to people familiar with the matter.
