FanDuel Sports Network Detroit

[Ken H]

From Awful Announcing

DAZN reportedly courting NBA, NHL teams currently with FanDuel Sports Network

Any deals would be made independent of Main Street, which appears destined to shutter operations.

By Drew Lerner on 02/17/2026


DAZN, a London-based sports streaming platform, has recently been linked to a purchase of Main Street Sports Group, owner of the FanDuel Sports Networks. Those talks appear to be over, but DAZN looks to have another plan in mind to break into major sports broadcasting in the United States.

According to a report by Tom Friend in Sports Business Journal, DAZN has “unequivocal interest in obtaining the broadcast rights to the 13 NBA and seven NHL teams that are currently under the Main Street umbrella.” Any deals would be made independent of Main Street, which appears destined to shutter operations at the end of the current NBA and NHL seasons after issuing WARN notices to employees this week.

However, teams that want to go the DAZN route would likely need to take a substantial haircut on their media rights fees. Per Friend, DAZN is asking teams to take as much as a 40% cut to their current rates, which could push teams to explore other options.

Any deals would likely be short-term in nature as both the NBA and NHL are looking to centralize local broadcast rights in the next few years to sell to a streamer. DAZN sees striking these deals as one way to get an inside track on those negotiations, which will also likely include more established players like Prime Video and ESPN Unlimited.

DAZN, for its part, does have connections to the NBA and NHL already. Sports Business Journal notes that the streamer operated NHL TV globally, and broadcasts NBA games in Spain, Belgium, and Germany.

It should be noted, these negotiations are happening on a team-by-team basis. Rather than buying Main Street, thereby taking on an entire portfolio of teams, many of which are inked to unsustainable rights deals, DAZN can pick and choose which teams to court based on a number of factors.

Last week, Puck sports correspondent John Ourand reported that the 13 NBA teams currently inked to Main Street are looking to move forward with the NBA’s centralized broadcast plans as early as next season. Those teams include the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies.

If DAZN wants to poach some of those teams, it’ll need to make offers that are more compelling than what the league can offer.


https://awfulannouncing.com/dazn/courti ... twork.html

[uncleb67]

I was just checking out the Tigers Spring Training 2026 broadcast schedule and it looks like there is a game this Saturday 1:05pm on “TIGERS TV”…Xfinity is my cable provider, where can I watch this game and going forward?!?!

[Ken H]

That is an excellent question.

I checked the Xfinity guide and tomorrow at 1pm ET, and do not see a new channel, and as expected there is no listing for a Tiger game on the FanDuel Sports Net Detroit channels.

But, on the MLB app, the game is shown as available on the Yankees sports net YES, and a second network called "DETT". So it appears the game will be available on the new Tigers sports net there.

A free signup for MLB is available and if it works the same way as in the past, many of the spring training games are free to watch. It's important to remember not all Spring Training games are being televised, and some are not available even on radio.

Once the regular season starts, there is at least one free game available every day, sometimes more than one. All of this is with the free MLB app signup.

The details on the new Tigers / Red Wings sports net are not available as yet but I expect they will be coming very soon.

Here is the most recent info from Ilitch Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Tigers and Red Wings:

Fans will be able to watch Tigers and Red Wings games on direct-to-consumer streaming subscriptions and through "the same options that have been recently available" on cable and satellite packages, with information about those options coming at a later date. Red Wings games will continue to air locally on FanDuel Sports Network through the end of the 2025-26 regular season.

[uncleb67]

That is an excellent question.

I checked the Xfinity guide and tomorrow at 1pm ET, and do not see a new channel, and as expected there is no listing for a Tiger game on the FanDuel Sports Net Detroit channels.

But, on the MLB app, the game is shown as available on the Yankees sports net YES, and a second network called "DETT". So it appears the game will be available on the new Tigers sports net there.

A free signup for MLB is available and if it works the same way as in the past, many of the spring training games are free to watch. It's important to remember not all Spring Training games are being televised, and some are not available even on radio.

Once the regular season starts, there is at least one free game available every day, sometimes more than one. All of this is with the free MLB app signup.

The details on the new Tigers / Red Wings sports net are not available as yet but I expect they will be coming very soon.

Here is the most recent info from Ilitch Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Tigers and Red Wings:

Fans will be able to watch Tigers and Red Wings games on direct-to-consumer streaming subscriptions and through "the same options that have been recently available" on cable and satellite packages, with information about those options coming at a later date. Red Wings games will continue to air locally on FanDuel Sports Network through the end of the 2025-26 regular season.

Thanks for that update! We shall see this afternoon!

[tigerwings]

I logged into my MLB account, Does NOT show the Tigers game is free. Shows several other free games.

Went to MLB.TV, appears my local options are Reds and Gards, not Tigers in Toledo. Had the games fro the past 6 seasons on Directv.

[statmanmi]

I'm hopeful for this afternoon's game.

I've installed the MLB app on both a Roku and AndroidTV device (onn streamer). I signed into each with my MLB.com credentials, which are at the free level--no paid subscription.

On both devices now (12:47pm), I first select the Tigers game. In the next window, the DET video can be selected, and has no padlock--the Yankees YES telecast does have the padlock.

Once in the DET option, I'm currently treated to a video montage that has a bottom scroll of "Event about to start".

I'll update this post when something goes live.

Update 1 (1:10pm): In the MLB app on both the Roku and AndroidTV, the main telecast is from the Yankees-owned YES network. None of the Tigers TV personalities.

But, upon doing a down arrow on both devices provides a Broadcast Options -> Audio selection area. By choosing the WXYTFM button, I'm now hearing Dickerson and Petry over the YES video. The audio is about 4 seconds ahead of the video on both devices.

But at least it's available.

Update 2 (1:20pm): Back from the half inning commercial break, and the Tigers radio audio is still 3-4 seconds ahead of the video. I've not had that in other apps this week, and since it's both my devices, I'm concluding it's coming to me that way. Possibly I could compensate with my own TV's audio delay settings. Oh well.

I also checked in my fubo app (FuboTV). Not available there. I do successfully use Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit in fubo, with that channel currently having non-live programming. I'm not surprised that no TigersTV row has been added to the guide.

Play ball! ~~ Statmanmi

[MWmetalhead]

What a mess.

Hopefully MLB and the Tigers get things figured out before the regular season gets underway.

[tigerwings]

working in TOL

[Ken H]

What a mess.

Hopefully MLB and the Tigers get things figured out before the regular season gets underway.

I didn't get a chance to check it out, but I'm sure things will get figured out.

[Ken H]

Update 1 (1:10pm): In the MLB app on both the Roku and AndroidTV, the main telecast is from the Yankees-owned YES network. None of the Tigers TV personalities.

But, upon doing a down arrow on both devices provides a Broadcast Options -> Audio selection area. By choosing the WXYTFM button, I'm now hearing Dickerson and Petry over the YES video. The audio is about 4 seconds ahead of the video on both devices.

But at least it's available.

Play ball! ~~ Statmanmi

I checked the replay and it was just as you described.

[MWmetalhead]

Spoiler alert

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The Tigers lost 20 to 3 (!!!) today. Probably a good thing the viewing options were not well publicized! That looks like a lopsided FOOTBALL score.

[Ken H]

1-5 so far, not great. But you know what they say, it's only Spring Training.



Still no sign of the FanDuel replacement, but they filed a WARN notice.

From WRIF.com
Main Street Sports Group LLC will shut down its Detroit office and lay off all 17 employees on April 14. The parent company of FanDuel Sports Network Detroit filed a WARN notice on Feb. 13 with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

The closure affects roles from account executives to producers, social media coordinators, and operations staff at 2645 Woodward Ave. at Little Caesars Arena. Why the office is closing remains unclear. The WARN notice offers no explanation.

[Ken H]

Tigers release full Grapefruit League television broadcast schedule
We’re still waiting on the details of the Tigers TV package, but at least we know which games will be televised.

https://www.blessyouboys.com/detroit-ti ... t-schedule

[Ken H]

Tigers Baseball is on the air!

Blue Jays are at Tigers today in Lakeland, on the new Tigers sports network, on the MLB app. Free for all who have an MLB account.

Jason Benetti and Dan Petry are on the call. Different graphics package than FanDuel. In game interview with Tarek Skubal, during the Tiger 5th.

[MWmetalhead]

The Samsung Tizen OS version of the MLB app doesn't give me the option of joining an in progress broadcast live. Instead, it launches the broadcast from the very beginning of the telecast, and then I have to manually fast forward to the current point in the telecast.

I do have the option of the Detroit Tigers feed or the Rogers Sportsnet feed. For audio, I can choose between the TV commentators and 97.1 The Ticket's commentators.