The Detroit Tigers are officially splitting with FanDuel Sports Network, and the Detroit Red Wings will follow soon after.
As announced by Ilitch Sports and Entertainment (IS+E) on Monday, Feb. 9, Major League Baseball will take control of the production, broadcast and distribution of Tigers television broadcasts for the 2026 season. The deal will also bring Red Wings broadcasts under MLB control starting in the 2026-27 season, in what IS+E (who owns the Tigers and Red Wings) called a “first of its kind partnership.”
Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal first reported the Tigers’ move to MLB Media on Monday, Feb. 2, as the nine MLB teams remaining under the FanDuel Sports Network broadcasting umbrella all decided to end their contracts with Main Street Sports Group, who operates the FanDuel networks.
IS+E says that fans will be able to watch Tigers and Red Wings games on direct-to-consumer streaming subscriptions and through “the same options that have been recently available” on cable and satellite packages, with information about those options coming at a later date. Red Wings games will continue to air locally on FanDuel Sports Network through the end of the 2025-26 regular season.
“Given recent uncertainty throughout the regional sports broadcasting industry, we recognize the importance of providing fans with a consistent, year-round outlet to watch Tigers baseball and Red Wings hockey,” IS+E president Ryan Gustafson said in the statement.
The move comes as the landscape of local baseball broadcasts continues to shift dramatically, with MLB Media now controlling the broadcasting rights of 14 MLB teams including the Tigers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins. Main Street has missed payments to many of its NBA partners, as well, as all MLB teams previously partnered with Main Street have all fled in the past two seasons.
Two teams partnered with Main Street in 2025, the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves, are considering launching their own broadcasting networks per SBJ.
While the Tigers don’t yet have details about pricing, app availability and streaming offerings for their new partnership in 2026, they intend to offer a single subscription for fans to watch the team year-round.
Though MLB Media is now taking over Tigers games, many familiar faces and voices from 2025 should remain the same, with IS+E announcing that play-by-play commentators Jason Benetti and Dan Dickerson and color commentators Andy Dirks and Dan Petry are expected to return to their positions for the 2026 season.
Additionally, legendary Red Wings broadcasters Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond are expected to continue in their current roles under the new partnership, according to IS+E.
“We have two of the top-rated broadcasts in our respective sports and remain focused on listening to fans about what matters most to them,” said Gustafson. “What we’ve heard includes making sure our games are available throughout the market, providing a reliable streaming product, and producing a broadcast that’s informative and entertaining in all the right ways.”
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers and Red Wings announce TV channel move to MLB Media
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
