As expected, the Atlanta Braves are moving forward with production and distribution of their local broadcasts.
The Braves officially announced Tuesday that they will control production, distribution, sales and marketing of their local television broadcasts under the banner of “BravesVision.” Games on the platform will be distributed through an as-yet-unannounced set of cable, satellite and streaming providers — Sports Business Journal reported Monday that the team is in talks with Comcast, DIRECTV, Dish, and potentially YouTube TV and Hulu — as well as through the MLB in-house streaming platform via the new Braves.tv.
Of the nine Major League Baseball teams who opted out of their deals with Main Street Sports Group (operator of the FanDuel Sports Network RSNs), the Braves are the first to choose to handle production and distribution of their games, rather than cede those rights to MLB. The Rangers previously opted to create their own RSN after leaving Main Street last year.
There is one team left whose plans for the coming season are to be determined, the Angels. Team owner Arte Moreno said last week that no decision has been made as to whether to cede production and distribution to MLB.
That the Braves would set out on their own RSN journey is no surprise given the team’s history. The team’s local games were broadcast nationwide on the TBS Superstation for more than 30 years from 1976-2007, making them into a national brand just in time for a decade of contention in the 1990s. Braves president and COO Derek Schiller referenced the TBS years in a statement Tuesday: “Generations of Braves fans were raised watching games on a network that shared ownership with the baseball team.”
The Braves may have in mind a model akin to that of the Yankees, whose YES Network also carries Brooklyn Nets NBA games. In Monday’s aforementioned Sports Business Journal report, the Braves were said to be pursuing the NBA Hawks and Grizzlies and NHL Predators to join its new venture, though it was not clear whether those teams will be receptive.
It is not clear how MLB plans to handle the issue of team-owned distribution platforms like BravesVision, Rangers Sports Network and YES Network as it plans to centralize its local media rights during its 2028 media rights negotiations. Any nationalized package of local media rights would presumably require that teams either discontinue the platforms they own or give up in-market exclusivity.
Braves games will continue to air this season on over-the-air broadcast television via Gray Media, which will carry “a select number” of games throughout the season.