ATLANTA—In another example of how station groups are capitalizing on the decline of regional sports networks to add high-profile properties, the Atlanta Braves and Gray Media have inked a multiyear deal that calls for Gray stations to simulcast 14 regular-season games starting in 2025. Those games will also air on FanDuel Sports Network South, the RSN that is the MLB team’s local TV rightsholder.
The 15 select regular-season games will be spread across the season, with specifics to be announced at a later date. Gray will also exclusively produce and air 10 spring training games.
The deal will increase the reach of those telecasts, providing a new way to watch Braves baseball for more than 15 million households, Gray and the Braves said.
Gray will carry games in 24 markets across six states of the Braves’ home television territory—one of the largest in professional sports—and allow more fans to watch than ever before.
In Atlanta, the games will air on the main channel of WPCH (channel 17.1), the CW affiliate known on-air as Peachtree TV, and on Peachtree Sports Network, a multicast network carried by WPCH and other Gray stations in Georgia. That represents a kind of homecoming for the Braves, as WPCH was once WTBS, the Ted Turner-owned cable superstation that carried Braves games nationally via satellite from 1973 through 2007. As Peachtree TV, the station carried the Braves locally from 2008 to 2013.
Games will air throughout the Southeast via Gray’s network of broadcast stations, including Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, the Tennessee Valley Sports & Entertainment Network and portions of the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network. A select number of games will air on some of Gray’s ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and The CW affiliates.
“We are thrilled to partner with Gray Media to offer our fans more opportunities to watch a simulcast of certain games and access our content all across the Southeast,” Atlanta Braves president and CEO Derek Schiller said. “This partnership makes Braves baseball even more accessible, allowing fans throughout Braves Country the ability to watch in a way that best suits them, whether that is on cable, local TV, or streaming.”
Said Gray chairman Hilton Howell: “Gray Media is thrilled to partner with the Atlanta Braves to bring baseball back to local broadcast television across the Southeast. We are proud to give Braves fans a new way to watch their favorite players and one of the best franchises in baseball history.”
The Braves and Gray also reported that they will work together to develop ancillary programming. Potentially featuring Braves players, coaches, and alumni, this additional content will expand opportunities for viewers to follow the team beyond live game coverage and connect with the Braves on a new level.
More information on the selected games as well as the additional content will be released before the start of the season.
