According to a report by Gary Larkin of the Westfair Business Journal, the parent company of FanDuel Sports Network, Main Street Sports Group, will close down on April 14th. The NHL season ends on the 16th.
Thankfully for Columbus Blue Jackets fans, the season ends on the 14th, but if they should make the playoffs, that puts in question where the games would be available to watch, as first-round games are typically available to the local RSNs.
Per the report, "Main Street Sports Group of Southport plans to shutter its operation and lay off its 44 employees from the CEO on down. The company, which takes up most of the space at the 27,392-square-foot Pequot Plaza office building, started off the year with broadcast rights to 29 NBA, NHL and MLB teams. Its demise has left nine MLB teams scurrying for flagship regional TV coverage just about a month before Opening Day."
The report goes on to quote the CEO David Preschlack, “FanDuel Sports Network is continuing to broadcast NBA and NHL games as we engage in discussions with our partners about our go-forward plans."
The notice that Main Street Sports Group sent out says the shutout will be permanent.
NHL teams that currently use FanDuel is the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues.
Regional Sports Networks have been a hot topic for years. With more and more people "cutting the cord," it seemed that RSN's were dying slowly over the last decade or so. From Fox Sports Ohio to Bally Sports Network, and finally FanDuel, it seems that this chapter of sports broadcasting is about over.
Layoffs from Main Street Sports Group have been announced randomly for weeks now, so this isn't necessarily unexpected, but more of a "finally."
The CBJ have been putting games on over-the-air channels randomly for a couple seasons now, but would they dare do that permanently? Several teams around the league have been creating their own streaming networks for the past few years, with the Detroit Red Wings the latest team announcing plans to launch a streaming service.
Would the Blue Jackets be able to launch their own streaming service? Whatever happens, they need to get this started as soon as possible, and maybe they already have; we don't know yet.
Time is of the essence on this. The Jackets have world-class talent like Steve Mears, Jody Shelley, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, and Brian Giesenschlag that need to stay in Columbus.
Next Up For Zach Werenski - Semifinal vs. Slovakia - 3:10 p.m. Today.
Other Potential Games For The United States
- February 21: Bronze Medal Game, 2:10 p.m.
- February 22: Gold Medal Game, 8:10 a.m.
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