Cincinnati Reds Considering New Streaming Option for 2026 Season

CINCINNATI — There has yet to be a solution for the Reds’ media rights deal, but teams are in "emergency talks" with a new suitor. They announced they are terminating their contract with Diamond Sports earlier this month.

With Main Street Sports facing an impending shutdown due to bankruptcy, teams are in desperation mode to sort out TV deals for 2026 and beyond. Teams across multiple Major League franchises are in talks with Victory + as a potential solution. Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal first reported the news.

The Reds are one of nine teams that terminated their contracts with FanDuel Sports Network according to Evan Drellich of the Athletic. Main Street Sports Network, formerly Diamond Sports Group and Bally Sports, has been bought and battled bankruptcy over the last 12 months or more. They have missed payments on multiple professional sports leagues and teams, including the NBA earlier this month. Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal

Victory+ is being pitched as a sales pitch that can be a short-term solution with potential for a long-term partnership. Friend describes it as combining “modest” rights fees with minimum guarantees and revenue sharing above a certain level. The Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks of the NHL, and the Texas Rangers, currently use the service as their streaming partner.

The President of the Victory+ parent company Neil Gruniger told Friend that he wants to take on as many teams as possible. There are currently 29 franchises in need of new media rights deals. Gruniger expects to meet and exceed the previous media rights deals over time, but the crux of the issue is that teams are currently not receiving payment from Main Street Sports. Are teams willing to take a cut in payment revenue in the short term with expectations of growth?

“I think they can over time,” Gruninger said, referencing past rights fees. “We’re here to give them a minimum guarantee that de-risks it. But teams need to be empowered to help work with us.... I think we can go beyond that (old rights fee) number as we scale and bring additional content on (like YouTubers), and have additional ways of generating revenue that’s beyond even just advertising and sponsorships."

Victory+ is a direct-to-consumer streaming service. It is free to access, with the content locked behind a paywall, like how the Rangers use the service. This would end blackouts for local viewers, but is just another service fans will have to pay for to watch their favorite team. The Rangers’ price was $100 for the 2025 season, with it being projected to cost $140 for 2026.

The season is right around the corner. Expect to hear more news in the near term as teams and all major sports organizations are scrambling to get deals in place.

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