RSN Collapse: NBA Local Rights Hit the Open Market
Main Street Sports Group will wind down operations after the end of the 2026 NBA regular season and the first round of the NHL playoffs, after failing to make any 2026 rights-fee payments to its 13 NBA and seven NHL partners. The NBA has told affected teams they can begin signing new in-market deals for 2026-27, with the league urging one-year terms or exit clauses ahead of a potential league-run national streaming hub targeted no earlier than 2027-28. Streamers and tech providers including DAZN, Victory+, ViewLift and Kiswe are pursuing team digital rights, while larger platforms such as YouTube TV, Amazon and the ESPN app are cited as potential bidders for a future national streaming RSN.
Key Takeaways
- Main Street Sports is set to dissolve in April/May timing, with FanDuel Sports Network commitments ending after current season milestones.
- Main Street made no 2026 rights-fee payments; NBA teams may recover a portion (sources cite up to ~60%) via a dissolution/creditor formula.
- The NBA is urging short-term local deals (one-year or exit clauses) to preserve flexibility for a league-run streaming platform targeted no earlier than 2027-28.
- A real near-term possibility: NBA teams experimenting with streaming-first or even streaming-only local distribution in 2026-27.
- DAZN, Victory+, ViewLift, and Kiswe are actively courting team digital rights; longer-term “national RSN” contenders include YouTube TV, Amazon, and the ESPN app.
Why It Matters
This is the RSN unwind everyone modeled—now with a deadline and 13 NBA teams suddenly shopping rights in parallel. Expect rights fees to compress (SBJ notes likely sub-$10M annually for linear) while distribution strategy becomes the real battleground: free, ad-supported local streams (Victory+), paid subs (DAZN), or team-owned DTC stacks (ViewLift/Kiswe). The NBA’s one-year guidance is a tell: the league wants optionality to aggregate local games into a national product, creating a “bundle reset” moment. For streamers and MVPDs, this is a rare window to win sports inventory—and data—before the league centralizes the supply.
Read full article at sportsbusinessjournal.com
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