The gentle deadline of April 1 for Five NBA teams to extend their expired agreements with Fanduel Sports Network Was delayed from an unknown period, sources told SBJ, a postponement that could ultimately induce the Hawks, the Cavaliers, the Heat, the T’Wolves and the Dollars to get back in their RSN for at least next season.
The artificial deadline was pushed several times-from December 2024 on April 1 and now perhaps this summer or beyond-because the League office negotiates a potential national RSN with Amazon, YouTube, Apple and perhaps ESPN +, Roku or others. The five teams in question were to be informed of the infrastructure and financial increase in the national RSN streaming by April 1 before making decisions on their local television future, but rather in limbo while the regular season ends this month.
Their options, in the meantime, are double. The five teams can return to the Fanduel Sports Network, where rights fees have decreased since 2022 but are still significant. Or they can go to a less lucrative linear model – similar to Jazz,, Sun,, Trail Blazers,, Maladder And Pelicans – This could be supplemented by formidable income once the League finalizes an agreement for a national streaming platform. But sources have said that the NBA informed team leaders that RSN streaming is not immediately imminent, to remain patient and have confidence that the League will eventually negotiate an extremely profitable streaming agreement for local emissions.
Based on this calendar, the five teams could probably find themselves in a time crisis at the end of this summer, pending the National RSN in streaming while trying to make a local television decision for the 2025-26 season. Passing the road directly means securing advertising and launching direct application to consumers – preferably not something to be precipitated since teams like jazz generated only about 16 million dollars per year under the live / DTC application model.
For these reasons, the Hawks, the Cavaliers, the Heat, the T’Wolves and the Dollars can end up with little appeal but to stay with Fan Duel Sports Network Main Street Sports Group Main Street. On the positive side, Main Street highlighted at the League scale that they remain a growing and viable company, after having reduced their debt by $ 9 billion to around $ 300,000, while increasing their linear subscriptions to around 25 million and to DTC subscribers to around 400,000 now that now that They are a complementary channel on Amazon. Main Street also has strategic agreements in place with Yahoo and SB Nation to “stimulate the growth and awareness of subscribers” and their rivers should also land on the next ESPN DTC service.
According to sources, Main Street also intends to renew the MVPD agreements and could create distribution agreements with YouTube TV, Hulu or more. They have resumed their advertising business and also understand that their long -term future is probably linked to their DTC gains.
The question for the five teams – if they extend their fandual contracts – is how long they will be held to oppose. Originally, rue Main demanded that Hawks, Cavaliers, heat, T’Wolves and dollars come up for two more seasons, not one. But the sources have indicated that these teams only prefer extensions of one year in the event that the national RSN streaming was ready to use by the 2026-20 season. It is not clear if the leaders of Main Street – who have repeatedly refused comments – will only allow extensions of one year, although the teams of the main street and the NBA continue to maintain an open working relationship. The leaders of Hawks, Cavaliers, T’Wolves and Bucks did not respond to requests for comments, while the heat refused to comment.
However, sources think that Hawks, heat and T’Wolves will almost certainly extend their fandual contracts. The Hawks, for example, only conclude a 10 -year agreement which had a current rights of $ 32 million this season, double if not more than most of the live teams. Even if about 60% of HAWKS viewers are Comcast customers on several levels – hindering the range of the team and leading to lower notes – sources said that the $ 32 million was too much to let pass, unless Main Street asks the team to take much lower rights.
The indications are the heat which also opposes, given their payment of rights last season, the highest team on rue Main at $ 55 million. Sources have almost confirmed that T’Wolves, with current rights costs of 24 million dollars, have already decided to register, while the Bucks – although not as definitively – are also likely to extend their current $ 24 million contract.
This leaves Cleveland as perhaps the only real question mark. Leadership Cavaliers had previously been proactive last year, launching the owner’s rock entertainment network Dan Gilbert, even if local Cavs Games were disseminated exclusively on their Fanduel RSN. The team appeared ready to go in addition to the air next season on Resn, assuming that the League unveiled its national RSN in streaming. But with this project still pending, the CAVS (whose payment of rights this season is $ 35 million) can simply return to the Fanduel Sport Network.
In any case, the RSN in national streaming remains a priority of League, crystallized by the fact that the president of the NBA of Global Content & Media Distribution Bill Koenig made a long presentation during the meetings of the Council of Governors at the end of March. At a press conference thereafter, Commissioner Adam Silver also suggested that the expansion of the League in cities such as Seattle or Las Vegas could be interrupted until the National RSN is formalized so that these emerging teams can enter the League with a healthy local television economy.
While the teams are all waiting for – impatiently or not – sources have said that the League has again reminded the team’s leaders that even if their main street rights fees were falling next season, the national money in the incoming media (142 million dollars going to each deductible from 2026, with 7% of the annual increases of the 10 years) to increase the immediate financial blows.
“We get more money on a national scale, so we are ready to take success locally,” said a team executive a month ago.