The Kansas City Royals have announced that the team has reached an agreement with Diamond Sports Group to continue broadcasting its games in the 2025 Major League Baseball season. As a result, the FanDuel Sports Network-branded cluster of RSNs will enter the season with seven MLB teams in its portfolio after it recently received approval of a restructuring plan to emerge from Ch. 11 bankruptcy. Royals games will air on the recently rebranded FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City, coming off a season in which linear viewership of the games was up by more than 30% and the streaming audience proliferated by over 200%. The Royals have a partial ownership stake in the regional sports network, one of four teams in the league with such an arrangement.
“Our top priority has been and always will be reaching as many fans as possible,” John Sherman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Kansas City Royals, said in a statement. “We want to be available to anyone who wants to watch our exciting team as the ownership group continues to invest in the progress we’re making on the field.”
The Royals qualified for the MLB postseason for the first time since the organization won the World Series in 2015; however, the team was eliminated in the ALDS in four games by the New York Yankees. The team concluded last season with over 40,000 streaming subscribers, more than half of which watch each game for at least 90 minutes. Compared to the rest of the league, the Royals communicated that they experienced the largest subscriber growth last season. Starting next season, fans will be able to watch the team through Amazon’s Prime Video as an add-on subscription to augment accessibility. The two companies reached a multiyear agreement during Diamond’s Ch. 11 bankruptcy that extends to its 16 regional sports networks in 31 states.
“This past season reinforced what we’ve always known about the passion of our fans and how much they enjoy watching our great athletes perform,” Brooks Sherman, president of business operations for the Kansas City Royals, added in a statement. “Our viewership grew towards the top of all of baseball, and we’re excited to continue to position ourselves for the future.”
Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves had initially objected to the reorganization plan for Diamond Sports Group to exit Ch. 11 bankruptcy, stating that there would be “a substantial likelihood that the debtors will find themselves once again in financial distress and/or bankruptcy court in the near future.” Yet both entities ended up withdrawing the objection, helping to clear the path forward for the plan to be confirmed by the court.
The league has been independently producing and disseminating live game broadcasts for several teams formerly on Diamond RSNs, including the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins. The league has also been presenting Colorado Rockies games since last season following the cessation of AT&T SportsNet-branded RSNs by Warner Bros. Discovery at the end of last year. MLB will add regional broadcasts for the Cincinnati Reds to its portfolio next year as well as it explores the possibility of nationalizing its local media rights deals and ending blackouts in 2028.
This new agreement with the Royals covers all games that are not on national television next season, which begins with spring training. MLB currently has national television deals with ESPN, FOX Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery, along with games exclusive to streaming on Apple TV+ and Roku. Diamond Sports Group also has the local television rights for 13 NBA teams and eight NHL franchises.
“Our renewed partnership with the Royals highlights our shared commitment to connecting as many fans as possible to the team, however they choose to watch,” David Preschlack, chief executive officer of Diamond Sports Group, said in a statement. “We are confident that our evolving partnerships with Amazon and FanDuel, and combined linear and digital platforms will provide fans with exceptional value and an unparalleled viewing experience.”
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