Brewers president Rick Schlesinger explained why the team decided to switch gears from joining MLB’s TV umbrella to remaining with Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) via the FanDuel Sports Network. It is a one-year deal for 2025, though the parties will re-engage and see if they want to continue the partnership at season’s end.
Schlesinger would not comment on whether the Brewers took a haircut to their local rights fee. The Cardinals took a 25% haircut to remain on FanDuel for 2025. Under the MLB-run TV model, there is no guaranteed rights fee, though there is an opportunity for increased reach. Fans of teams under MLB’s TV umbrella were charged $19.99 per month last season, or $99.99 for the season. Eight teams will play on FanDuel-based RSNs in 2025.
The Brewers announced in October that MLB would be producing and distributing their local broadcasts. However, a month ago, Main Street asked Milwaukee if it would be open to a new proposal for 2025. Talks heated up the week after Christmas, with a deal coming before the New Year.
“We knew (Main Street’s) people. We knew their production capabilities. We understand for fan continuity and ease of fans getting our games this made a lot of sense and checked a lot of boxes,” Schlesinger said. “We had two good options, and we decided for 2025 it made sense to re-engage and renew with (Main Street).”
The Brewers will offer cable, satellite, and streaming options for their fans via their FanDuel-based RSN.
Long-term, Milwaukee, MLB’s smallest market, is supportive of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s vision to sell a national streaming package in 2028, Schlesinger said. The NBA’s 11-year, $77B national TV deal is set to kick off in 2025-26.
“I think it’s obviously in the best interest of baseball, and for all the teams. And I think the commissioner is very clear the goal is to have the widest distribution, the best economics, the best opportunities for fans to watch games in whatever format they want to, with as many options as possible,” Schlesinger said. “And I think having a more national platform that has been discussed in the commissioner’s office is the way to do that. So we are very supportive of migrating to that new world order, if you will, for 2028.”
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