In summary:
- Nine MLB teams are leaving FanDuel Sports Network by 2026 as the Sinclair-operated network faces potential liquidation after failing to find a buyer.
- PCWorld reports this shift benefits baseball fans through improved MLB app streaming at $100 per season, down from FanDuel’s $123, with superior features like multi-view options and no blackouts.
- Cable subscribers maintain access while cord-cutters gain better experiences, though departing teams face significant revenue losses from abandoning traditional broadcast deals.
With Spring Training just a couple weeks away, baseball fans have something new to get excited about: They won’t have to deal with FanDuel Sports Network anymore.
Sinclair’s Main Street Sports Group, which operates 16 regional sports networks under the FanDuel brand, is potentially facing liquidation after failing to find a buyer. Instead of taking chances, nine Major League Baseball teams have walked away, and most are now turning to the league for distribution.
This won’t change much for cable and satellite TV subscribers, who will still get the games on TV if their package included them already. But for cord-cutters, the collapse of FanDuel Sports Network will result in a better experience and lower prices.
It’s about time.
Which teams are leaving FanDuel Sports Network?
As of now, nine MLB teams are leaving FanDuel Sports Network in 2026: The Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, and Atlanta Braves.
All but the Braves are likely to partner with MLB to distribute their games this season, Sports Business Journal reports, though the Tigers and Angels haven’t made it official yet. (The Braves reportedly plan to launch their own network instead.)
The eight ex-FanDuel teams partnering with MLB will join seven others distributing games through the league this year: The Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Washington Nationals.
Jared Newman / Foundry
In each of these markets, MLB offers the same streaming plans: For $20 per month or $100 for the season, you get all in-market games for your local team with no blackouts. The only missing games will be the nationally televised ones on ESPN, NBC, Peacock, Apple TV, or Netflix. (FanDuel Sports Network didn’t carry any of those games either.)
In previous years, MLB has also offered a bundle with MLB.TV, which includes out-of-market games and radio streams. The price last year was $200, versus $150 for MLB.TV alone, effectively cutting the cost of local games in half. A similar package will be available in 2026, though the league hasn’t announced pricing.
Meanwhile, pay TV packages that carried FanDuel Sports Network will almost certainly pick up MLB’s channels instead. That means the games will remain on any cable and satellite packages that included them previously.
What this means for you
For the teams abandoning FanDuel Sports Network, the breakup is not ideal in the short-term, as they’re likely to lose millions in broadcast revenue per year.
But for baseball fans, the move to MLB will be a vast improvement.
Streaming in-market games will be cheaper with MLB at $100 per season, including Spring Training, versus $123 last year with FanDuel. If you subscribe to MLB.TV for out-of-market games, the cost for local team coverage will be even cheaper through bundling.
The MLB app experience is also miles ahead of what FanDuel offered, with more reliable video, more detailed stat overlays, condensed game replays, and a better video player that marks up scoring plays on the timeline. You can even swap the local TV broadcast audio for the radio feed, and there’s a multi-view feature for MLB.TV subscribers that lets you watch four games simultaneously.
Jared Newman / Foundry
What about cable and satellite customers? If you previously watched the games on TV through FanDuel Sports Network, you’ll still be able to do that (though you’ll also get access through the excellent MLB app at no extra charge). The only difference will be the channel name.
If you’re not in a market served by FanDuel Sports Network, fret not. I’ll soon have an update to my baseball streaming guide with all the in-market viewing options for each team.
Meanwhile, the rest of us can look forward to a better year of baseball viewing ahead. Let’s just hope ESPN doesn’t find a way to ruin it when it starts distributing games through its own app in 2027.
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Author: Jared Newman, Contributor
Jared has been a freelance technology journalist for more than 15 years and is a regular contributor to PCWorld, Fast Company, and TechHive, where he's written a weekly cord-cutting column since 2014. His Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter has more than 30,000 subscribers, and his Advisorator tech advice newsletter is read by nearly 10,000 people each week. Jared has a master's degree in journalism from NYU and specializes in making complex tech topics easy to understand, from streaming and cord-cutting to neat apps and useful tech tricks. He is based in Cincinnati, OH.