Tigers' TV rights saga continues after termination of FanDuel Sports Network contract

Here we go again.

For the third straight offseason, the Detroit Tigers — along with nearly one-third of Major League Baseball — are staring at a question that shouldn’t exist in a $10 billion industry:

Who is going to pay us for our TV games… and how much?

According to The Athletic (subscription required), Main Street Sports Group — the latest corporate identity of the bankrupt, re-bankrupt, reborn Bally/Diamond/FanDuel Sports Network empire — lost around $200 million in 2025 before attempting to renegotiate rights fees across MLB, the NBA and the NHL. The Tigers are one of nine MLB teams in the blast radius, along with the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.

The uncertainty is no longer “theoretical.” All nine of the aforementioned teams have canceled their television contracts as of Friday –– and with spring training right around the corner, no less. Fortunately, the Tigers have been preparing for this day by taking more control over their broadcasts in the last year –– including making TV play-by-play voice Jason Benetti an employee of the team –– but they have yet to speak publicly about what broadcasts will look like in 2026.

This is the exact kind of financial fog a front office hates –– especially for a team like the Tigers, who are already cautious spenders.

Let’s be honest: Detroit isn’t exactly operating like the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees in the free agent market, even in the best of times. Scott Harris talks constantly about “value,” and Chris Ilitch is… Chris Ilitch. So what happens when the team doesn’t even know whether its TV partner is going to pay the bill?

If you want to be cynical — and Tigers fans have earned the right — this becomes yet another reason to slow-roll roster upgrades.

It’s not just the Tigers’ problem, sure. But it hits small- and mid-market teams harder, and the current RSN model is collapsing fastest under them. FanDuel (Main Street) wants to renegotiate rights. Teams want certainty. And MLB has already shown it doesn’t intend to bail clubs out like it did with the temporary “media disruption distribution” in 2024 — that one-time relief fund of up to $15 million per impacted club is gone.

This year, if revenue drops, teams simply… absorb it. And guess what? Payroll is usually the first pressure valve.

Tigers among MLB teams in TV broadcast purgatory amid FanDuel Sports Network debacle

MLB as a fallback plan — but “fallback” is the key word. If FanDuel’s deals fall apart, MLB will step in to produce and distribute games — just like they did with the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023 (and several more since). But here’s the important detail: MLB does not guarantee teams the same revenue they were getting.

Instead, the league gives the teams… whatever the broadcasts happen to earn. Subscriptions plus ad sales equals your TV money, and that is not a comfortable business model. Plus, the longer teams wait to decide whether to jump ship, the harder it becomes for MLB to spin up streaming packages, sign carriage deals, and market the product. This is already a race against the clock.

The Tigers’ setup already changed once when Bally rebranded into FanDuel Sports Network. Fans have endured shifting platforms, streaming confusion, market blackouts and corporate drama completely outside the control of the baseball team.

In terms of whether this affects baseball decisions in Detroit, you’d certainly hope not. This is a club that just signed Kenley Jansen, is banking hard on organic growth, still desperately needs right-handed power and lineup depth, and has a young core entering its competitive window. This is not the time to tighten belts.

But privately? You’d be naïve to think Tigers ownership isn’t watching the RSN situation nervously. When tens of millions in projected guaranteed revenue suddenly isn't guaranteed, it matters –– in arbitration strategy, at the trade deadline, and in free agency. It also matters in long-term extension talks –– you know, the kind fans desperately want to see with Tarik Skubal.

The core issue hasn’t changed since Diamond’s bankruptcy began: cord-cutting killed the golden goose. Regional sports networks were built on a world where everyone paid for cable — including millions of people who never watched sports. That cross-subsidy funded huge, guaranteed team payouts.

Now? Cable subscriptions are shrinking, advertising value is dropping, streaming competition is everywhere, and young viewers don't sit through three-hour broadcasts. As one industry observer said to The Athletic, “The math doesn’t work anymore in this traditional model.”

So where does this leave the Tigers? In limbo — like everyone else. But Detroit’s situation comes with some uniquely Tigers-flavored stakes, including a fanbase that’s waited a decade for winning baseball, an owner who already prefers conservative spending, and a front office built on discipline, margins and models.

Uncertainty does not push those people toward risk. It pushes them toward patience –– and patience is not what Tigers fans want to hear right now.

This TV rights saga isn’t about graphic packages or channel names. It’s about stability, predictability and confidence. And right now, the Tigers — and eight other MLB teams — don’t have it. Until they do, every baseball decision they make exists under a financial cloud that shouldn’t be hovering over the sport.

Detroit finally looks ready to turn a corner on the field. It would be nice if their now-former TV partner didn’t keep moving the goalposts off it.