Regional sports broadcaster Main Street Sports is suing Comcast Corporation and Charter Communications on allegations that the large cable television platforms underpaid licensing fees for carriage of its channels.
The lawsuits were filed in Delaware on Monday, and are separate actions, though a court may consolidate the cases in the near future. Each case involves allegations about the amount of money Main Street Sports was owed for distribution of its FanDuel Sports Network channels, which previously operated as Bally Sports and Fox Sports Networks.
The amount of money Main Street negotiated with Charter and Comcast for carriage of its channels wasn’t clear — public versions of the complaints were heavily redacted — and other distribution terms weren’t specified, either.
Main Street Sports filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023, while it was still operating as Diamond Sports Group. The company had preliminary financial backings from Sinclair, Inc. and Byron Allen’s media company, among others, but was never profitable as the sports channels struggled to generate revenue due to ongoing churn in the cable and satellite TV business.
The broadcaster emerged from bankruptcy last year, relaunching its operations under a new name and with a plan to restructure its debt from $9 billion to a more-manageable $300 million. It continued to air games from the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL) and other sports organizations while working to satisfy creditors.
That ended earlier this year, when Main Street Sports pulled the plug on its regional channels, a move that forced sports organizations to scramble for new TV partners. The last professional sports game aired on April 30, and its remaining distribution partners fully dropped its channels by the end of June.
During the first six months of this year, Main Street Sports alleges Comcast and Charter underpaid for the privilege of carrying its channels, even as the writing was on the wall about the long-term viability of its business. In one complaint, Main Street Sports said the cable operators were “harming the NBA and NHL teams” whose games were carried on the channels because Main Street Sports hasn’t been able to pay the teams what they are owed, a direct result of Comcast and Charter’s alleged underpayments.
Charter and Comcast have not publicly commented on the situation, CNBC, which was spun out of Comcast’s NBC Universal earlier this year, was the first to report on the lawsuit.
Main Street Sports began searching for a buyer late last year but failed to find one. MLB teams aligned with the company exited earlier this year and sought new local distribution arrangements before the season began.
Some games aired by the FanDuel Sports Network channels have moved on to broadcast television, while others are streamed directly to fans through partnerships with the MLB and NBA.
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