There’s more troublesome news for Royals’ TV provider, FanDuel Sports KC
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Main Street missed payments and may cease operations by late spring 2026.
- If Main Street dissolves, MLB would likely assume Royals broadcast rights.
- Fans will still get Royals games on cable or streaming with current announcers.
The Royals’ 2026 games will be available for fans to watch on cable or stream without disruption, despite more bad news for the company that owns FanDuel Sports Kansas City.
A report shortly before Christmas said Main Street Sports Group, which owns the FanDuel Sports Networks, had missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals. And if a deal with DAZN, a British on-demand sports streaming service, wasn’t completed by the end of January, Main Street Sports would cease operations by late spring, just when the Royals’ season is set to start.
The Royals haven’t reported a missed payment from Main Street Sports, but there was more worrisome news this week for the company. It “missed its January payments to numerous undisclosed NBA teams,” according to the Sports Business Journal, which noted Main Street Sports has broadcast rights for 13 NBA franchises.
Awful Announcing reported the DAZN deal was in “serious doubt.” If the arrangement between Main Street Sports and DAZN fails, Main Street Sports reportedly will cease operations in the spring and the Royals’ local TV rights would revert to the team. Should that happen, the most likely scenario would have Major League Baseball take over Royals broadcasts.
The Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Mariners, Twins and Guardians all will have broadcasts run by MLB this season, according to The Athletic. If that happens to the Royals, Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler would still be calling games, and fans would still have access to them in Kansas City on cable or via a streaming service.
Beyond the uncertainty of what company would be broadcasting Royals games, which begin in less than three months, there is the financial aspect of Main Street Sports’ demise.
That Athletic story said Main Street Sports lost $200 million in 2025.
“Main Street and other traditional RSNs promise teams a fixed amount per season for their TV rights, typically tens of millions for most teams,” wrote the Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Katie Woo. “Teams carried by MLB, however, are not promised a fixed fee by the league. Instead, MLB pays them whatever their telecasts wind up bringing in, via streaming subscriptions and traditional TV distribution fees.”
The Royals declined comment for this story.
