Main Street reportedly misses January payments to “numerous undisclosed NBA teams”; Versant shares fall by 13% on the first day of trading; and DISH files antitrust and breach of contract counterclaims against Disney. Plus news on the NBA, Tennis Channel, the Los Angeles Lakers and 92.9 FM ESPN Memphis.
Main Street reportedly misses rights payment to “numerous undisclosed NBA teams”
Main Street Sports Group has reportedly missed January payments to “numerous undisclosed NBA teams” as it works on a potential sale to DAZN, according to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. While game broadcasts are not currently affected, Friend wrote that the league’s law firm has likely sent default notices to Main Street, which upon receipt would trigger a 15-day grace period.
Main Street owes the 13 NBA teams in its rights portfolio “about $180 [million] this season,” sources told Friend, with the potential DAZN transaction seen as the reason behind the delay. The NBA teams are reportedly believed to have “safeguards” in their contracts that would allow them to be “primary payees from Main Street’s creditors should the business eventually collapse.”
It had been previously reported that DAZN “will conceivably ask teams” who have local deals with Main Street Sports Group “to accept reduced rights fees” as part of a potential sale. Friend added that DAZN could look to acquire digital rights for all of the teams, something that would presumably complicate the NBA’s efforts to create a national streaming RSN. Per the report, most team contracts with Main Street end in 2027, while the deals with the Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic conclude after the current season. “The NBA is monitoring the situation and remains committed to ensuring that fans can continue to watch games locally,” an NBA spokesperson said to Sports Media Watch in a statement.
Should Main Street and DAZN be unable to reach a deal, the RSN operator would reportedly cease operations and shutter the business at the end of the NBA and NHL seasons. It remains unknown how the MLB teams in the Main Street oeuvre would respond to such an outcome as the league seeks to potentially create a centralized national option. Main Street had reportedly missed a rights payment to the St. Louis Cardinals in December just one month after three MLB teams activated options to extend their agreements with the company.
Versant shares drop 13% on first day of trading
Shares of Versant Media fell 13% to $40.57 on its launch day of trading on the Nasdaq Monday, a decline from an initial $45.17/share. Comcast Corporation completed the spinoff of most of its cable assets and some other digital brands, and stockholders received shares of Versant as part of a 1-to-25 pro rata distribution. Versant projected revenue in 2026 is expected to finish between $6.15 billion and $6.4 billion on EBITDA between $1.85 billion and $2 billion, all of which would be YoY declines.
During an interview on CNBC Monday morning, Versant CEO Mark Lazarus emphasized the importance of “vertical scale” in order for the company not to be dependent on pay television. As has been repeatedly stated by executives, Versant hopes to derive about 50% of revenue from non-pay television sources as a long-term goal. In a presentation to investors last month, Versant projected a first-day capital structure with $2.25 billion of total net debt at 1.0x net leverage and $1.5 billion in liquidity, which includes $750 million from an undrawn revolving credit facility due in January 2031.
The tax-free spinoff officially introduced a new player in the sports media landscape as well with the formation of USA Sports, which features cable brands USA Network and Golf Channel. The company’s sports rights portfolio already includes the Premier League, WNBA, PGA Tour, NASCAR, and it will utilize NBC Sports studios for its programming while keeping a commercial relationship with NBCU for two years. “We believe Versant’s diverse portfolio of sports rights provides a strong foundation of programming and improves near-term cost and monetization visibility,” S&P analysts wrote while assigning a ‘BB’ issuer credit rating to the company in October.
With the Comcast spinoff of cable networks complete, Warner Bros. Discovery currently has plans to follow a similar approach in Q3 with Discovery Global. The planned standalone company would include WBD global networks, including the TNT Sports division and its associated channels, along with other brands in the news, entertainment and lifestyle genres. Paramount, however, has been trying to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety and is continuing the effort despite Netflix reaching a deal for the studio and streaming assets of WBD. Within its hostile bid process, Paramount has argued that WBD global networks “will ultimately trade at a discount to Versant” due to higher debt.
DISH files antitrust, breach of contract counterclaims against Disney
DISH Network, the owner of Sling TV, officially filed counterclaims for antitrust and breach of contract against The Walt Disney Company and ESPN in the Southern District of New York on Friday amid a continuing dispute over the streaming MVPD’s short-term ‘passes.’ DISH alleged that Disney is violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by conditioning access to ESPN based on the purchase of other “low-value networks,” referring to the common practice as “anticompetitive tying requirements.” DISH contends that it has to “capitulate to Disney’s demands” because without having ESPN, it “stands to lose a substantial portion of its customers.”
DISH wrote that Disney is trying to corner the “skinny sports bundle market” by working with Fox to create two bundling options (ESPN/FOX One; Fubo Sports), something it asserts as “an unreasonable restraint of trade” as defined in the Sherman Act. DISH also pointed to Disney’s acquisition of Fubo as allowing the company to “provide the skinny sports bundles that Disney prohibits anyone else from offering,” which it said monetizes contractual restrictions in violation of the Clayton Act.
The counterclaim also accuses Disney of having “flagrantly” breached most favored nation obligations, granting competitors terms it did not offer to DISH and Sling. “Dish’s counterclaims have no merit and are nothing more than a tactic to distract from their own misconduct, and we look forward to vindicating our position in court,” a Walt Disney Company spokesperson said. Disney had filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Sling in August to restrict the vMVPD from including its networks within short-term pass offerings, which allows users to access programming at lower price points. This past November, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent Sling from offering the passes.
DISH responded to an amended complaint filed by ESPN Enterprises, Inc. et al. (collectively known as “Disney”) on Friday, Dec. 19, outlining that it “had no contractual obligation” to contact the media conglomerate before launching the short-term subscriptions. The company also said that “a limited number of promotional materials for Sling Passes included the phrase ‘with no subscription,’ which was inaccurate.” DISH denied several allegations brought forth on three counts, which were for “breach of contract,” “breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” and “breach of contract (failure to pay),” and argued that Disney’s amended complaint “should be dismissed with prejudice.”
Plus: NBA, Tennis Channel, Los Angeles Lakers, 92.9 FM ESPN Memphis
- The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets will be participating in the NBA China Games on Friday, Oct. 9 and Sunday, Oct. 11 from The Venetian Arena in Macao, it was announced Monday. This event will mark the 31st and 32nd preseason matches to take place in China. Prior to this season, the league had not played in the country since 2019.
- Tennis Channel is launching a new podcast titled “The Big T,” which is slated to make its launch on Wednesday, Jan. 7, it was announced Monday. The new show, which, will feature hosts Brad Gilbert, Mark Petchey, Andrea Petkovic and CoCo Vandeweghe, is going to be on site at the Australian Open later this month.
- Select regional telecasts for Los Angeles Lakers games will be offered through the “Apple Immersive” experience on Apple VisionPro, which allows users to toggle through different cameras while hearing the action in Spatial Audio and viewing graphics in 3D. The first of six games on the schedule takes place this Friday, Jan. 9 as the Lakers face the Bucks, and it will feature broadcasters Mark Rogondino and Danny Green calling the game.
- Geoff Calkins is departing 92.9 FM ESPN Memphis after 16 years with the outlet, anchoring his final morning radio program on Friday, Jan. 9. The station will debut a new lineup next Monday that includes the current midday duo of John Martin and Jason Smith moving up to morning drive.
