News: Bally Sports to be rebranded to Fan Duel Sports Network

Saying goodbye to Bally Sports as the Diamond Sports merry-go-round continues

As of October 21, the name of the network we currently know as Bally Sports will cease to exist, as Diamond Sports Group sold the naming rights to FanDuel to become FanDuel Sports Network. As of now, we do not know the terms of this agreement between Diamond and the sports betting website.

It has been a downward spiral for the largest regional sports network since March of last year when they officially filed for bankruptcy and have been unstable since. To stay financially viable, Bally submitted contract cuts with 11 MLB teams, leaving the Atlanta Braves as the sole baseball team. However, there are no worries for Milwaukee Bucks fans, as the Bucks will stay on the rebranded network along with 12 other NBA teams and eight NHL teams for the 2024-2025 season. For those who have cut the cord, FanDuel will be offering a direct-to-consumer streaming channel, which will offer FanDuel TV content in addition to game coverage.

“Collaborating with FanDuel provides a tremendous pathway for Diamond to elevate the fan experience and deepen the incremental value we provide for our team, league, and distribution partners,” Diamond Sports Group CEO David Preschlack said in a statement. “This partnership reinforces opportunities to further strengthen the close connection our RSNs have with local fans, including enhancing our (direct-to-consumer) offering for a growing digital audience. In the meantime, having finalized agreements with the NBA, NHL, and our key distributors, we remain focused on moving our business forward and driving value for our team partners and our stakeholders.”

This comes after Diamond appeared to be close to a deal with Amazon to potentially offer direct-to-consumer streaming for all the teams currently on Bally Sports. We shall see how this rebranding deal potentially affects that deal and what it could all mean for the Milwaukee Bucks.