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FanDuel Sports Ohio now officially done

V

vjm

FanDuel Sports Ohio, which began in 1989 as Sports Channel Ohio, has officially signed off as of today (May 16, 2026)

The channel, which had been the longtime cable home of the Cavs (and Indians until 2006) had it's plug pulled earlier this year along with all the other FanDuel branded regional networks around the country.

As far as the Cavs go, I'd be flabbergasted if they wound up somewhere other than RESN (along with sister station WUAB channel 43) next season.

I mean why else was RESN established...right?
 
Those would all air on free TV. My guess is "Sports Time Ohio". They have a lot of dead air space to fill off season.

I remember SportsChannel launching on my cable station about the same time Wayne Gretzky made his debut with the Kings. Talk about "The good old days.". 😔
 
vjm said:
FanDuel Sports Ohio, which began in 1989 as Sports Channel Ohio, has officially signed off as of today (May 16, 2026)

The channel, which had been the longtime cable home of the Cavs (and Indians until 2006) had it's plug pulled earlier this year along with all the other FanDuel branded regional networks around the country.

As far as the Cavs go, I'd be flabbergasted if they wound up somewhere other than RESN (along with sister station WUAB channel 43) next season.

I mean why else was RESN established...right?
Click to expand...
Grabbing the Cavaliers -- which IIRC only hasn't been announced because they're still in the playoffs -- is a foregone conclusion. It's probably help RESN get a better subchannel deal in Columbus and upgrades elsewhere in the state (Toledo especially, where Gray bought WFND-LD Findlay as part of their Block Communications buyout recently).

What I'm curious about is what happens to the Blue Jackets, which could become a rather problematic situation for that team.
 
Rusty Muck said:
What I'm curious about is what happens to the Blue Jackets, which could become a rather problematic situation for that team.
Click to expand...

Apparently nobody knows. If you go to the Blue Jackets site, you'll see this announcement:

Please complete the form below to be notified of updates on how to watch and stream Columbus Blue Jackets games in the 2026-27 season.​

Click to expand...

When they figure it out, they'll let you know. I imagine it'll be a combination of streaming with a network of broadcast TV stations for certain games.

Here's one possible example:

www.nhl.com

Preds, Scripps Sports Announce Game-Changing Broadcast Partnership | Nashville Predators

Agreement Begins Next Season; Scripps Will Broadcast Predators Games Over the Air for Free
www.nhl.com www.nhl.com

The key thing to know is they will be on digital subchannels, not the main broadcast channel. But the digital channel is available on local cable systems.
 
Fan Duel SW is still on DirecTV.
 
TheBigA said:
Apparently nobody knows. If you go to the Blue Jackets site, you'll see this announcement:



When they figure it out, they'll let you know. I imagine it'll be a combination of streaming with a network of broadcast TV stations for certain games.

Here's one possible example:

www.nhl.com

Preds, Scripps Sports Announce Game-Changing Broadcast Partnership | Nashville Predators

Agreement Begins Next Season; Scripps Will Broadcast Predators Games Over the Air for Free
www.nhl.com www.nhl.com

The key thing to know is they will be on digital subchannels, not the main broadcast channel. But the digital channel is available on local cable systems.
Click to expand...
It certainly doesn't help that Columbus is a market dominated by Sinclair, Nexstar and Tegna, and neither is in a position to bid for the rights locally. Gray has no Columbus, Ohio, station, RESN is cleared via a time-buy with Innovate Corp. diginet coatrack WDEM-LD. Scripps owns the Columbus, Ohio, Ion station as a standalone but sold off the spectrum and is hosted on a low-power signal.

The Blue Jackets' biggest problem is that they are, and always will be, second fiddle in a market dominated by The Ohio State Buckeyes.
 
Rusty Muck said:
It's a zombie channel, though. Probably the only reason why it's still on the air is to fulfill any remaining contract obligations with DirecTV.
Click to expand...
Same with FanDuel South and Southeast.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
I haven’t heard anything about where the San Antonio Spurs might wind up; they were the last Texas pro team still on FDSSW. In DFW FDSSW used to have the Rangers, Mavericks and Stars but those three have found other homes over the past couple of years.
Click to expand...
The Rangers and Mavericks did it right. The Stars not so much.
 
salemjedi54 said:
The Rangers and Mavericks did it right.
Click to expand...
The Rangers have the Rangers Sports Network, which distributes the games as well as pre- and postgame programming to video providers, but doesn’t bother to fill the rest of the day, which is probably a wise choice (outside of program hours there is just a placeholder graphic.). They also have select games syndicated on broadcast stations, and there is a paid option on the Victory+ streaming service for those fans that don’t have access to the first two.

en.wikipedia.org

Rangers Sports Network - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

The Mavericks have gone mostly into free broadcast TV, with most games on KFAA/29 and a few on WFAA/8 for the DFW market. Games are also syndicated to broadcast stations around Texas. There is also the MavsTV streaming option.

An issue with KFAA is insufficient distribution on video providers.

www.nba.com

Where to Watch the Mavs | Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are making it easier for fans to watch games by partnering with WFAA Ch.8 and KMPX Ch.29, reaching over 3.1M households free over-the-air.
www.nba.com www.nba.com

MavsTV | Dallas Mavericks

www.nba.com www.nba.com
salemjedi54 said:
The Stars not so much.
Click to expand...
The Stars are confined to Victory+, but the games are free with a Victory+ account. A few games are broadcast on KDFI/27 or KDFW/4 for DFW viewers. There is no syndication of the games to other broadcasters, unfortunately.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
The Rangers have the Rangers Sports Network, which distributes the games as well as pre- and postgame programming to video providers, but doesn’t bother to fill the rest of the day, which is probably a wise choice (outside of program hours there is just a placeholder graphic.). They also have select games syndicated on broadcast stations, and there is a paid option on the Victory+ streaming service for those fans that don’t have access to the first two.

en.wikipedia.org

Rangers Sports Network - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

The Mavericks have gone mostly into free broadcast TV, with most games on KFAA/29 and a few on WFAA/8 for the DFW market. Games are also syndicated to broadcast stations around Texas. There is also the MavsTV streaming option.

An issue with KFAA is insufficient distribution on video providers.

www.nba.com

Where to Watch the Mavs | Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are making it easier for fans to watch games by partnering with WFAA Ch.8 and KMPX Ch.29, reaching over 3.1M households free over-the-air.
www.nba.com www.nba.com

MavsTV | Dallas Mavericks

www.nba.com www.nba.com

The Stars are confined to Victory+, but the games are free with a Victory+ account. A few games are broadcast on KDFI/27 or KDFW/4 for DFW viewers. There is no syndication of the games to other broadcasters, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Too bad u can’t watch the Stars without internet service.
 
TheBigA said:
I think that was what killed most of the RSNs. They had to purchase or produce a lot of that programming, and there was very little viewership once the games were over.
Click to expand...
The pandemic, where no RSN could carry any live team play-by-play for months, basically exposed this problem.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
The Stars games are free on Victory+.

If you can’t afford internet service you also can’t afford cable/satellite TV, so no difference.
Click to expand...
But you can afford free over the air television.
 
salemjedi54 said:
But you can afford free over the air television.
Click to expand...
Only if you live within rage of a station carrying the games you want to see.

The problem with having games on free OTA television is the revenue loss for teams and leagues (other than the NFL). You can still sell advertising but you lose subscription income.

All this ties into what has been referred to as the “sports bubble” where teams and leagues are reaching the limits of how much they can charge for game coverage, while player salaries go through the roof. We’ve seen that with the RSN failures.

MLB is in the most precarious position right now, as it has no salary caps or floors. It is going to destroy itself if it doesn’t get its financial model in order. Unifying the all the game broadcasts under a common distributor is a possibility in the next few years to stabilize revenue sources. Instituting a salary cap would also ensure the future viability of baseball.

A family member who is a Stars season ticket holder tells me he fully expects Victory+ to eventually switch to a pay model, as the Texas Rangers have done with the platform.
 


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