FanDuel Sports Networks Owner on Brink of Collapse
Posted on: December 22, 2025, 06:45h.
Last updated on: December 22, 2025, 09:46h.
- Main Street Sports Group risks collapse unless the company can execute a sale to DAZN
- The company runs the FanDuel-branded regional sports networks (RSNs)
- The financial stress doesn’t pertain to FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment
The owner of the regional sports networks (RSNs) bearing the FanDuel brand is reportedly on life support and urgently needs to execute a sale to DAZN to ensure survival.
Main Street Sports Group, which owns the RSNs, missed this month’s media rights payment to the St. Louis Cardinals, highlighting the company’s precarious financial position. Sources with knowledge of the matter told the Sports Business Journal that if the broadcaster can’t finalize a sale to streaming service DAZN by January, it could be at risk of collapse.
If that sale doesn’t proceed, it’s likely Main Street would shutter operations by the end of the current NBA and NHL seasons. The company runs RSNs for 30 franchises across those two leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB).
It’s been 14 months since the FanDuel brand was applied to those networks. That’s a marketing agreement whereby the sportsbook operator paid for those naming rights, and Main Street’s financial duress has nothing to do with FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT).
FanDuel RSNs Have Rough Financial History
Previously, Main Street Sports Group was Diamond Sports Group — a company that went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of those bankruptcy proceedings, FanDuel paid a significant rights fee to the media company and may have received up to 5% of the broadcaster’s equity in exchange for that payment.
FanDuel replaced regional casino operator Bally’s as the gaming sponsor of the networks. In 2020, Bally’s agreed to pay $85 million over 10 years to put its branding on the RSNs. The FanDuel relationship was viewed as better for Main Street because of the sportsbook operator’s brand recognition and reach in some markets in which the RSNs air.
Main Street is just a year removed from emerging from Chapter 11. The Sports Business Journal reported that it’s unlikely the company will again pursue bankruptcy even if the sale to DAZN falls apart. If that happens, the RSN owner will end its NBA and NHL relationships.
The sale to DAZN is held up because the seller isn’t reaching certain metrics demanded by the would-be buyer. It is imperative because DAZN has a track record of success with direct-to-consumer (DTC) sports platforms in several large markets outside the US.
NBA Looms Large
If Main Street can bring the sale to DAZN across the finish line, 13 FanDuel RSNs risk going dark before the end of the season. The league is reportedly working on a contingency plan that could ultimately result in the creation of a centralized network that would localize some broadcasts, ensuring franchises would have dependable rights payments.
The Sports Business Journal reports that 28 of the league’s 30 teams would likely favor that plan, with only the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks being the outliers because their local rights deals — $192.1 million for the Lakers and $106.56 million for the Knicks — are too good to give up.
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