Predators have 'alternative' plan in case FanDuel Sports Network goes dark

5 days ago 2

Television broadcasts of the Nashville Predators are once again caught in the cross-fire of negotiations related to FanDuel Sports Network and its parent company Main Street.

Main Street, previously known as Diamond Sports Group, owns broadcasting rights to dozens of MLB, NBA, and NHL teams, including the Predators, the Memphis Grizzlies, and Atlanta Braves. FanDuel Sports Network, previously Bally Sports, is the television broadcasting arm of the company.

According to a report by Sports Business Journal on Dec. 21, Main Street missed its December payment to the St. Louis Cardinals, one of its properties under the MLB agreement. Main Street has been in the process of selling its team rights to DAZN, a sports-streaming service based in Europe, but another report on Jan. 7 indicated that "Main Street’s talks with DAZN are all but extinguished."

This has apparently put many of Main Street's properties on edge, worried the entity could fold mid-season.

But the Predators have a "break glass" plan in case FanDuel Sports Network goes dark.

“We believe that our games will continue to be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network for the remainder of the 2025-26 season as planned,” Predators chief marketing officer Bill Wickett told The Tennessean on Jan. 8. “But if something were to go awry, we will have an alternative in place so that Preds fans can still watch our games."

The team did not specify the alternative, but The Tennessean has previously reported the Predators have reviewed other options for broadcast rights, including over-the-air, local television stations. Several NHL teams, including the Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken, and Vegas Golden Knights now have broadcast agreements with local television stations, as well as their own in-house streaming apps.

This is the latest in a series of broadcast obstacles involved the Predators and other NHL teams.

In 2024, the Predators' regional broadcast, then known as Bally Sports, went dark in the middle of the team's Game 5 victory in Vancouver. The issue then was a carriage dispute with Comcast Xfinity.

Then, after declaring bankruptcy later that year, Bally Sports renamed to FanDuel Sports Network. The media company then launched a stand-alone streaming service and app.

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators have 'alternative' plan in case FanDuel Sports Network goes dark

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