The Texas Rangers Sports Network is currently trying to acquire the local broadcast rights to the various NBA teams that exited Main Street Sports Group, through a mostly direct-to-distributor model that somewhat mirrors Fubo’s failed attempt to do the same.

Surprised to be solicited by an MLB franchise, some of the NBA teams have passed — such as the Thunder, who, according to industry insiders, control their own local ad inventory and aren’t interested in a revenue share. But sources said potentially the Spurs and others are still weighing the Rangers’ blueprint that projects to pay teams approximately $15M or more and also includes a direct-to-consumer streaming product.

The crucial difference between the Rangers Sports Network and Fubo — which ceased its pursuit of teams in mid-May rather than include one-year outs that would allow franchises to flee to the NBA’s impending centralized streaming hub — is that the Rangers are not offering a minimum guarantee. Instead, sources said the network is offering an 85/15 revenue share split after production expenses, leading to the projected $15M-plus revenue figure.

Like Fubo, the Rangers network would disseminate its NBA broadcasts through direct-to-distributor deals with MVPDs, satellite companies and Virtual MVPDs, similar to what they currently do for their baseball team. The Rangers Sports Network, for instance, has carriage deals with DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, Spectrum, Fubo, U-verse, Astound, Vyve Broadband, and GEUS.

The network is also promising NBA teams it would televise a sliver of their games — perhaps as many as 15 — on local over-the-air linear channels. According to one NBA franchise, the Rangers’ sales pitch emphasized increased audience reach through free broadcasts, although the Rangers did not offer any details.

In a statement to SBJ late Thursday afternoon, the Rangers Sports Network said, “Given the varying challenges with local game broadcasts for many professional sports teams in recent months, and the club’s unique approach in creating Rangers Sports Network, our organization has joined others throughout the industry in conversations about the future of team broadcasts. While this dialogue is continuing, RSN has yet to finalize any agreements with outside entities at this time.”

Similar to Fubo’s concern, one of the unanswered questions is whether the Rangers Sports Network would offer early escape clauses allowing teams to leave for the NBA’s aggregated national RSN — which could launch as soon as the 2027-28 season. That said, some NBA teams wonder if the league may delay the launch to the 2028-29 season, considering Victory+ (which has often said it maintains contact with the league) is now pitching two-year deals to NBA teams rather than one-year pacts, according to sources.

With the Rangers Sports Network now joining the fray, the 11 ex-Main Street teams still without local deals — the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Bucks, T’Wolves, Thunder, Magic and Spurs — have this new option to vet. Two other former Main Street teams (the Pistons and Heat) have already struck one-year deals to broadcast games next season on local OTA channels. So the spotlight is now on these other 11, who have their 2026-27 decisions to make.

While the Rangers’ network dangles its direct-to-distributor/revenue share model, sources said DAZN — which this spring teamed up with ViewLift — is now offering minimum guarantees as high as $20M. And the third candidate, Victory+, is still promoting its free streaming platform, although sources have said the company still needs investors who can back Victory+’s minimum guarantees.

One other curious aspect of the Rangers’ pursuit is its DTC component. For baseball, the Rangers’ digital partner is actually Victory+, who streams all of its ballgames behind a paywall. But, suddenly, the Rangers and Victory+ are competing against each other for NBA teams.

That leaves some ambiguity. For instance, it is unclear who the Rangers Sports Network would hire as its DTC operator if, in fact, it acquired an NBA team. That is, unless the plan all along has been to collaborate with its baseball partner Victory+ for its NBA streaming, too.

Either way, it isn’t unprecedented that the Rangers are soliciting NBA teams. The Braves, another MLB franchise, similarly launched their own TV network this year — BravesVision — and promptly recruited the NBA’s Hawks to join them. The Hawks declined initially and now appear headed to an OTA package with Gray — though nothing has been announced.

Undeterred, BravesVision has also had a supposed interest in the Grizzlies, who play in a border state. But still so far, no NBA teams have taken the cross-sport leap with an MLB franchise.