Braves Faced with More TV Drama as RSN at Risk of Shutting Down

Turmoil has arisen again in the battle for local TV broadcast rights, meaning the Atlanta Braves could have some decisions to make early next year

A year after major legal proceedings, this dilemma is back on, but could be reaching a conclusion | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Drama and legal action ensued last winter regarding the future of regional sports network (RSN) television. Now, it appears it could all meet its end soon due to a recent missed payment and a potential sale. According Sports Business Journal, Main Street Sports Group, which operates the channels that air Atlanta Braves games, missed its payment with the St. Louis Cardinals.

They are in pursuit of a sale to DAZN, a sports streaming service. Details of that sale were not included, nor was the cost of the missed payment to the Cardinals. Other teams are at risk of missing payments, including the Braves. While there was no word on how MLB as a whole was approaching it, the NBA reportedly spoke with its teams to prepare for the worst.

If this sale does not close by January, they will wind down their operations and cease operations at the end of the current NBA and NHL seasons. Naturally, this would cause a problem for MLB.

Main Street Sports Group is formerly known as Diamond Sports Group. The channels they own are currently called the Fan Duel Sports Network. They have been previously known under the Fox and Bally Sports monikers. Regionally, the channels at risk in Atlanta are Fan Duel Sports Network South and Southeast.

According to the same Sports Business Journal Report, Main Street remains in active discussions with all 30 organizations and is working to "finalize a complex strategic investment" that would result in DAZN becoming the majority owner of the FanDuel Sports Network channels.

There are 30 total teams across MLB, the NBA and the NHL who are caught up in this latest dilemma. MLB is faced with the issue of being midseason when these operations could potentially end. However, since their season starts after some important decisions are made, they will have the chance to figure out a game plan. If Main Street winds down, local TV rights will return to the teams.

Last winter, then-named Diamond Sports Group went through Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The Braves were one of the teams they worked to keep the rights to. Other MLB teams got their rights back last season, such as the Texas Rangers, and they moved to other platforms. Teams in other leagues have moved on since then as well.

Major changes followed in the attempt to rescue the model. For example, the local RSNs became available on Amazon Prime via an additional subscription. The Braves were able to simulcast select spring training and regular-season games on the local Gray TV stations in the Southeast United States. In Atlanta, this channel is PeachTree TV, the local CW channel.

Based on how other sports teams have operated since leaving their RSNs, a potential outcome for the Braves could see all of their games moved off cable. If they moved to PeachTree TV, for example, all games would still be available on all live TV packages, but they would also be available by simply having an antenna.

Like other MLB teams, the Braves could also find themselves without blackouts on MLB.tv, alongside. local broadcast channel. Those who are subscribed would finally get their team in-market in this situation.

It's already late December. We'll know the final decisions on the sale soon enough. In turn, we'll start to get a better idea of what it happening after.