SOUTHPORT, Conn. and NEW YORK—Diamond Sports Group and the online gaming company FanDuel have announced a wide-ranging long-term commercial partnership that will see Diamond Bally Sports rebranded as the FanDuel Sports Network.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Diamond Sports has been undergoing restructuring under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Under the deal, the 21 Bally Sports-branded RSNs were officially renamed under the FanDuel Sports Network brand with corresponding regional monikers. Diamond Sports Group's 16 owned and operated RSNs have become: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, FanDuel Sports Network Florida, FanDuel Sports Network Great Lakes, FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City, FanDuel Sports Network Indiana, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, FanDuel Sports Network North, FanDuel Sports Network Ohio, FanDuel Sports Network Oklahoma, FanDuel Sports Network SoCal, FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast, FanDuel Sports Network Southwest, FanDuel Sports Network Sun, FanDuel Sports Network West, and FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.
“Partnering with Diamond provides us an opportunity to put the FanDuel brand at the intersection of the nation's largest group of regional sports networks,” FanDuel President of Sports Mike Raffensperger said. “A large cohort of FanDuel customers are devoted RSN viewers and this agreement allows us to further cement the FanDuel brand with sports fans and provides a unique vehicle to reward our users.”
Diamond and FanDuel announced that the commercial agreement includes:
- Exclusive rights to name Diamond's 16 regional sports networks and Diamond's digital offerings, including the Bally Sports+ direct-to-consumer product, as FanDuel Sports Network;
- Linear and digital media placement and integration opportunities across all live NBA, NHL and MLB games on FanDuel Sports Network;
- A shared commitment to explore a unified DTC app experience with the ability to syndicate FanDuel TV programming across FanDuel Sports Network, including studio programming like “Up & Adams,” “Run It Back” and FanDuel TV's live programming;
- FanDuel will have reseller designation for Diamond's DTC product and additional economic and equity elements.
Additional partnership elements and collaborations will be introduced in the coming months, the two companies said.
Additional information regarding Diamond's Chapter 11 cases, including court filings and information about the claims process are available here.
