The Braves are going their own way.
Atlanta is expected to launch its own network — potentially airing on a national streaming platform or following a template similar to the Rangers Sports Network — according to Sports Business Journal’s Tom Friend. The move comes as all nine MLB teams that entered 2026 under contract with Main Street Sports have now officially terminated their deals with the FanDuel Sports Network operator.
The Rangers model the Braves are reportedly considering involves direct-to-distributor deals with cable and satellite companies, a streaming component, and a local over-the-air broadcast partner. Texas built Rangers Sports Network from scratch after taking back its media rights following the 2024 season, handling production and distribution entirely in-house.
The biggest obstacle for the Braves will be time. Spring training starts in about a month. Building a network from scratch — negotiating carriage deals, setting up production infrastructure, hiring staff — typically takes longer than that. The Rangers spent months preparing for their 2025 launch.
The Braves could take an interim step, moving their rights to MLB for 2026 while building out their own network for 2027. That would give them time to do it right without rushing into something half-baked. Or they could launch a basic version for 2026 and improve it as they go.
Atlanta already has some infrastructure in place. The team worked with Gray Media in 2025 to air 15 games on Peachtree TV and other local affiliates, expanding its reach to 15 million homes across markets like Memphis, Nashville, and Charlotte. That relationship could form the foundation of an over-the-air component similar to what the Rangers built. Gray also has exclusive rights to 10 Braves spring training games.
The question is whether the Braves can negotiate carriage deals with DirecTV, Spectrum, and other major distributors quick enough. Those negotiations take time, and the leverage isn’t what it used to be. Distributors know teams are desperate. They know the RSN model is collapsing. They’re not in a hurry to agree to favorable terms.
Still, the Braves have advantages. They’re one of baseball’s most valuable franchises with a fanbase that stretches across the Southeast. They have a strong brand and consistent on-field success. If any team can convince distributors to carry a new regional network, it’s Atlanta.
The alternative paths aren’t attractive. Main Street Sports is on life support. The company has 20 NBA and NHL teams left, and executives, according to Puck’s John Ourand, say they plan to produce games through the end of those regular seasons. But with missed payments piling up and no buyer materializing, Chapter 7 liquidation remains a real possibility.
The nine MLB teams that left did so to avoid being caught in another bankruptcy proceeding after already navigating Diamond Sports Group’s 20-month Chapter 11 saga. By terminating their contracts now, they protect themselves if Main Street files for Chapter 7, which would liquidate the company and limit how teams could maneuver.
MLB’s production system is straightforward for fans, even if it means less money for teams. When MLB takes over a team’s local broadcasts, the league handles production and distribution. Games still air on cable and satellite through existing providers in the team’s market. For cord-cutters, MLB offers direct streaming through MLB.tv without local blackouts — a significant improvement over the traditional RSN model, where fans in a team’s home market couldn’t stream games without a cable subscription.
The league is already set to produce and distribute games for at least ten teams this season: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins, Guardians, Mariners, and Nationals, along with the Brewers, Royals, and Cardinals which announced they’d join the league’s media arm on Monday.
Doing so reduces a team’s local media rights revenue substantially, however. Commissioner Rob Manfred has made clear the league wants centralized control of local rights to eventually package them in a massive deal with a tech company or streaming platform come 2028.
The Braves launching their own network runs counter to that vision. So does the Rangers model. But both teams have concluded they’re better off controlling their own destiny than accepting the league’s production system and the revenue cut that comes with it.
After the Rangers, the Braves will provide the second test case. If Atlanta can build a functional network and maintain revenue closer to its old RSN deal than what MLB would provide, it creates a blueprint for other teams with strong regional markets. If they struggle, it reinforces that only the biggest markets — the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers — can sustain independent networks, typically because they own equity stakes in them.
The RSN model that dominated sports media for two decades is dead outside those handful of major markets. What’s replacing it generates less money. Some teams will join MLB’s system and cut payroll accordingly. Others will try third-party alternatives like Victory+, which already streams Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks games for free and handles the Rangers’ paid subscription model.
The Braves are betting they can build something better than both options. We’ll find out soon whether they’re right.
