A week before Reds pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Arizona, the Reds have turned to Major League Baseball’s Local Media division to produce and distribute TV games this season.
Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported Monday that the Reds, Royals, Marlins and Cardinals are leaving the financially troubled Main Street Sports, which operates the regional FanDuel Sports Networks.
Sources confirm Marlins, Reds, Royals leaving Main Street along with Cardinals for MLB. Main Street was offering the Reds about $42 million to stay with the company, down from the $52 million they would have been owed in 2026 under the torn-up deal. https://t.co/3kzwLr198m
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 2, 2026
The good news for Reds fans: When MLB has taken over production and distribution for the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and other clubs, the TV announcing teams were kept intact. And MLB has offered in-market streaming for its teams.
However, the length of the Reds pre- and post-game shows could be changed by MLB, sources say.
Three years ago, the Reds were almost the first team to have MLB take over their telecasts. MLB was prepared to take over the Reds TV network on May 6, 2023, if Diamond Sports Group (now Main Street Sports) did not pay the club its rights fee for Bally Sports Ohio. The Reds got paid, and the team continued with Diamond’s Bally Sports (which was rebranded last year as Main Street Sports Group’s FanDuel Sports Network).
Also in 2023, Spectrum and Altafiber cable systems were prepared to move the Reds to another channel on their cable systems if the TV rights switched back to the Reds.
Last month, the Associated Press reported that the Reds and nine other teams — the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays — had terminated their contracts with Main Street. Since then apparently the Reds were waiting for Main Street to secure new financing.
At the time, Baseball Commissioner Bob Manfred promised that “fans are going to have the games” on TV this year.
According to The Athletic's Drellich, “Main Street was offering the Reds about $42 million to stay with the company, down from the $52 million they would have owed in 2026 under the torn-up deal."
Puck reporter John Orand, who has been covering baseball TV rights since before Diamond’s bankruptcy in 2023, says on X that his sources say that “six of the nine MLB teams with Main Street Sports are moving their media rights to the league. The Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals, Cardinals and Reds told MLB of their plans over the weekend. The other three — Braves, Tigers, Angels — have not been decided."
Sources: Six of the nine MLB teams with Main Street Sports are moving their media rights to the league. The Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals, Cardinals and Reds told MLB of their plans over the weekend.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) February 2, 2026
The other three--Braves, Tigers, Angels--have not been decided.
Much more in…
Reds pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear, Ariz., next Tuesday, Feb. 10. The first spring game on Saturday, Feb. 21, will be broadcast on local radio.
The Reds have dropped FanDuel twice in the last 15 months. The club announced in November 2024 that Major League Baseball would produce and distribute games. Two months later, the Reds reversed course and reached a new deal with FanDuel for the 2025 season which included a new direct-to-consumer steaming option “to give fans throughout the Reds regional TV territory access to its Reds coverage with no local blackouts.”
Baseball created the MLB Local Media Division in 2023 as regional sports networks financially collapsed due to cable TV cord-cutting.
Read more:
