By Jared Diamond and Isabella Simonetti
At least six more Major League Baseball teams just locked in a new partner for televising their games: the league itself.
The Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays until recently had broadcast deals with Main Street Sports Group. But that company began missing payments to franchises over the winter, and despite earlier talks with British media company DAZN, it hasn't successfully found a buyer or new financing.
With spring training days away, teams rushed to find a way to earn revenue from local game broadcasts. While regional sports networks guaranteed rights payments, MLB's structure is different. Teams have taken revenue haircuts in local media of more than 30% after switching to MLB, according to people familiar with the financials.
By opening day, MLB's in-house production and distribution division could be handling local coverage for half of the league's 30 franchises. Less than three years ago, all of them had deals with regional sports networks, demonstrating just how quickly the sport's economic landscape is changing.
The Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels have yet to announce their TV plans for 2026. The Tigers and Angels could still join up with MLB Local Media, which doesn't guarantee set rights fees in advance. The Braves said Monday that they are "well on our way towards launching a new era in Braves broadcasting." This could involve starting their own network, people familiar with the matter said.
"Our focus, particularly given the point in the calendar, is to maximize the revenue that's available to the clubs," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said last month. He added that games will be available to fans in all local markets, whether with MLB or elsewhere.
Teams were close to this crisis point before. Main Street faced earlier financial challenges and emerged from bankruptcy at the beginning of last year. At the time, MLB was cautiously optimistic that the worst had passed. As recently as November, teams including the Reds and Royals announced extensions of contractual options to keep their local television rights with Main Street, which operates channels branded as FanDuel Sports Network.
But in recent weeks, the situation devolved. Main Street missed some payments, prompting all nine of its MLB franchise partners to terminate their deals and start weighing other options.
In addition to baseball, Main Street controls the TV rights for 13 NBA and seven NHL teams. The company is expected to continue airing their games through the end of those leagues' seasons.
"We appreciate the leagues' engagement in ongoing discussions on our go-forward plans," a Main Street spokesperson said. "We appreciate the relationships we have had with these MLB partners and fans over many years, and we wish them the best."
MLB teams traditionally have derived 20% to 25% of their overall revenue from local media, more than any other major American sports league. Now that money spigot is drying up, especially in smaller markets , as more consumers drop the cable bundles that long fueled the sports economy.
"These local games' value is evolving, and it's evolving down," said sports media consultant Patrick Crakes, who has advised on regional sports networks and local media rights.
That evolution has spurred a widening revenue gap among MLB teams, in turn affecting competition on the field.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a local TV deal that pays them an average of about $330 million annually until 2038. Some of their counterparts are making a 10th of that.
The Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series last year with a star-studded roster that cost more than a half-billion dollars between payroll and luxury tax payments for those high salaries. The Marlins, meanwhile, had a payroll of around $70 million and finished with a losing record.
Moving to MLB Local Media adds more uncertainty for small-market teams. Regional sports networks guaranteed payments regardless of how many people actually watched games.
But MLB offers what it describes as an "eat what you kill" model, whereby teams' cuts depend on how much is brought in from sources including streaming subscriptions, individual distribution deals with linear TV providers and advertising. In many cases, player payrolls for teams that made the switch to MLB dropped alongside their revenue.
The San Diego Padres made the jump to MLB for local games after Diamond Sports Group -- Main Street's prebankruptcy name -- missed a scheduled rights payment during the 2023 season. The Arizona Diamondbacks followed not long after. The Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins joined MLB in 2024 and 2025, while the Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals were signed on for 2026.
Manfred wants to centralize local TV rights for all 30 teams and sell them as a package, which he says could provide a long-term solution to MLB's media problem. He hopes to do this after the 2028 season, when MLB's national TV contracts expire. It would involve persuading the big-market teams still benefiting from their local TV deals, such as the Dodgers, to surrender control of those rights to MLB.
Write to Jared Diamond at jared.diamond@wsj.com and Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 03, 2026 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)
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