O’FALLON, MO. — Diamond Sports Group has reached an agreement with the Major League Baseball club that calls St. Louis home, keeping the team’s local television coverage on a MVPD-delivered channel for the next several years.
The new multi-year linear and digital rights agreement sees the rebranded FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, formerly a Bally Sports property, serve as the St. Louis Cardinals’ exclusive local media partner.
Under the agreement, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest will air all games that are not exclusively televised nationally, as well as pre- and post-game shows and original programming. The network is a joint venture part owned by entities affiliated with the Cardinals. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
The new deal has a first: subscribers to FanDuel Sports Network on a direct-to-consumer basis will have access to games “in the extensive Cardinals TV territory.”
Additionally, pay TV customers will be able to stream games and other programming on the FanDuel Sports Network app by authenticating with their pay TV credentials.
Further information regarding DTC subscriptions, including pricing, is forthcoming.
“We are excited about deepening our relationship with the Cardinals and expanding our reach by delivering games to fans on a DTC basis,” DSG CEO David Preschlack said. “As we progress towards emergence from bankruptcy, we remain committed to providing fans in the Midwest region with high quality broadcasts through our linear and digital offerings and meeting fans where they are in the evolving viewership model. We remain in discussions with our other MLB team partners on go-forward plans, and we are confident that our linear and digital framework drives maximum value.”
Bill DeWitt III, who serves as President of the Cardinals, commented, “We are pleased to enhance and expand our long-term partnership with Diamond and FanDuel Sports Network Midwest. We valued the continuity for our fans of staying on the same network as the Blues, and we are excited that we will now be able to expand access to our games and other great Cardinals content across multiple platforms next year.”
