Fans looking to watch the Milwaukee Brewers on television next season won’t have to look hard to find the broadcasts, after all. Just a few months after announcing the team planned to partner with Major League Baseball to produce and distribute game broadcasts, the Brewers have shifted course and their TV contract will instead remain with FanDuel Sports Network — formerly known as Bally Sports Network, in 2025.
“The media landscape is complex and evolving rapidly, but our top priority is to ensure that Brewers games are available to fans regardless of where they live and how they connect to the broadcasts,” said Brewers President – Business Operations Rick Schlesinger in a statement released by the team on New Year’s Eve. “For many years, our television ratings have remained among the highest in baseball; the team has enjoyed a consistent run of success on the field and the future is promising with some of the game’s best and brightest stars calling Milwaukee home. We look forward to working with FanDuel Sports Network to deliver the best content in and around our game telecasts.”
FanDuel Sports Network will continue to broadcast Brewers games in 2025
More info: https://t.co/qy5NaBEtUP pic.twitter.com/buw6nV3Ykj
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) December 31, 2024
Brewers TV Contract to Remain with FanDuel Sports in 2025
FanDuel Sports has broadcast Brewers games in some form or another since the early 1990s, with the formation of the Wisconsin Sports Network to carry Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks games. Originally a gametime-only operation, WSN was acquired in 1996 by Midwest Sports Channel, which later became part of Fox Sports Net.
Wisconsin broadcasts then split off into their own network — Fox Sports Wisconsin — in 2007 and remained there for a decade until a merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox required divestment of regional sports networks to fulfill antitrust obligations.
Sinclair Broadcasting eventually bought FS Wisconsin — and a bevy of other RSNs — and folded them into Diamond Sports Group, but a change in viewing habits, as well as the 2020 pandemic, forced that entity into lengthy bankruptcy proceedings that left many teams, including the Brewers, with uncertain broadcast futures.
That was a primary factor in the Brewers’ decision to partner with MLB, bringing production in-house, but that decision also led to a number of financial uncertainties that stood to threaten the team’s already-limited broadcast revenue streams.
Financial Ramifications Remain Uncertain
Terms of the new deal are not yet public, but reporting in the past showed that the Brewers earned approximately $34 million under previous deals with FanDuel/Bally Sports.
While the financial implications remain unclear, Schlesinger said that fans won’t notice much, if any, of a difference in broadcasts next season.
“The decision to continue our rights agreement with FanDuel Sports Network ensures that fans will have seamless access to watch the Brewers in 2025, while enjoying the same high-quality productions and roster of on-air talent that fans have enjoyed over the years,” Schlesinger continued. “We appreciate the efforts of Major League Baseball in supporting our continued long-term relationship with FanDuel Sports Network and we look forward to what we know will be an exciting year for our fans watching at the ballpark, at home, and on the go.”
Photo Credit: © Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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