FanDuel Sports Network South

About FanDuel Sports Network South

Overview

FanDuel Sports Network South was an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group, formerly Diamond Sports Group, and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the network carried regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events from across the Southern United States. Its coverage area spanned Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, making it by far the largest coverage area of any FanDuel Sports Network affiliate. The channel's roots stretched back to August 29, 1990, when it launched as SportSouth under the ownership of Turner Broadcasting System. It operated as Fox Sports South from 1997 to 2021, as Bally Sports South from 2021 to 2024, and as FanDuel Sports Network South from October 2024 until its closure on September 30, 2026. In its final years it was the regional television home of the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators and Atlanta Dream, along with college basketball programming.

SportSouth and the Turner Broadcasting Years

The network was originally launched on August 29, 1990, as SportSouth, under the ownership of the Turner Broadcasting System, in conjunction with business partners Tele-Communications Inc. and Scripps-Howard Broadcasting. At its launch, the channel held the regional cable television rights to the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets. Shortly after Turner completed its merger with Time Warner, SportSouth was purchased by News Corporation's Fox Cable Networks in the winter of 1996. The channel was integrated into the recently formed Fox Sports Net group of regional sports networks and was officially rebranded as Fox Sports South in January 1997. The channel's name was amended to Fox Sports Net South in 2000 as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks, and in 2004 it was shortened to FSN South through the networks' de-emphasis of the Fox Sports Net brand.

The Fox Sports South Era

As Fox Sports South, the network became the dominant regional sports network in the Southeast for more than two decades. In 2002, it began producing the Southern Sports Report from its Midtown Atlanta studios, as part of the FSN networks' expansion of regional sports reports; the Atlanta studios served as a production hub for regional sports reports broadcast on other FSN networks as well. On February 23, 2006, News Corporation purchased the general entertainment cable channel Turner South from the Turner Broadcasting System for $375 million. After the deal was completed, the channel converted into a sports-exclusive channel, adopted the SportSouth name formerly used by Fox Sports South, and became its sister network, later renamed Fox Sports Southeast in October 2015. FSN South reverted to the Fox Sports South moniker in 2008. On February 28, 2013, Fox Sports South and SportSouth reached a deal with the Braves to acquire 45 additional games beginning with the 2013 season, ending the team's contract with WPCH-TV and marking the first time in 40 years that the team's game telecasts were not available on broadcast television in the Atlanta market.

The Sinclair Acquisition and Bally Sports South

On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between the two companies, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from 21st Century Fox. However, on June 27, 2018, the Justice Department ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of ESPN. On May 3, 2019, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, through their joint venture Diamond Holdings, bought Fox Sports Networks from Disney for $10.6 billion, with the deal closing on August 22, 2019. On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operator Bally's Corporation to serve as the new naming rights partner for the FSN channels. On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the 2021 Major League Baseball season, Fox Sports South was rebranded as Bally Sports South, along with 18 other regional sports networks. The first live sporting event on the rebranded network was the opening-day coverage of the Braves visiting the Phillies on April 1, preceded by the Braves Live pregame show.

Bankruptcy and the FanDuel Rebrand

On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, setting off a period of turmoil across the Bally Sports networks. Carriage disputes multiplied, and in the summer of 2024 Comcast dropped the Bally Sports networks during a financial dispute. On October 16, 2024, it was revealed in a court filing that Diamond had reached a new sponsorship agreement with FanDuel Group, under which it intended to rebrand Bally Sports as FanDuel Sports Network. On October 18, 2024, Diamond officially announced the rebranding, which took effect October 21. Under the agreement, FanDuel had the option to take a minority equity stake once Diamond Sports exited bankruptcy. Diamond Sports Group subsequently emerged from bankruptcy and was renamed Main Street Sports Group. The rebrand changed the network's graphics and branding, integrated select FanDuel TV programming into the schedule and gave the sportsbook company a prominent presence across the regional sports portfolio.

Teams and Programming

In its final years, FanDuel Sports Network South held the exclusive regional cable television rights to the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, and the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators of the NHL, along with the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. The network's programming included comprehensive pregame and postgame shows for each team: Hawks LIVE with Bob Rathbun and Dominique Wilkins, Hurricanes LIVE with Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy, Hornets LIVE with Eric Collins, Dell Curry and Shannon Spake, Grizzlies LIVE with Pete Pranica and Brevin Knight, and Predators LIVE with Willy Daunic and Chris Mason. The channel also provided coverage of men's college basketball from the Davidson Wildcats and the Missouri Valley Conference, including regional coverage of the Murray State Racers and Belmont Bruins. Due to the naming rights deal with FanDuel, select programming from FanDuel TV was included in the schedule.

Coverage Area and Sub-Regional Feeds

FanDuel Sports Network South's coverage area included Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and most of Kentucky, and it was often separated into several sub-regional feeds to adhere to the professional leagues' home territory rules. Memphis Grizzlies games were only seen in Tennessee, most of Kentucky, northern Mississippi and northern Alabama. Nashville Predators games were available in those markets plus Georgia. Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Hurricanes games were only seen in North and South Carolina. The Atlanta Hawks had restrictions preventing games from being carried in most of the Carolinas, parts of Mississippi and all of Kentucky. In October 2008, Fox split Fox Sports South into three separate channels to offer more localized coverage, launching separate feeds for the Carolinas and most of Tennessee as Fox Sports Carolinas and Fox Sports Tennessee. These channels were collapsed back into a common non-gametime schedule when Bally Sports South launched in 2021, though the separate feeds otherwise continued.

The Departure of the Braves and Predators

The network's final unraveling began with the departure of its marquee teams. On February 24, 2026, the Atlanta Braves announced the launch of their own network called BravesVision, with games produced and distributed in-house, ending their tenure with FanDuel Sports Network. A limited selection of Braves games was also broadcast on local Gray Media television stations for free in the Southeast through a partnership with Gray Media, and Braves games were streamed on MLB's Braves.tv platform. On April 7, 2026, the Nashville Predators reached a multiyear agreement with Scripps Sports, with Nashville's Ion Media station WNPX-TV carrying all regional preseason, regular-season and first-round playoff games starting in the 2026-27 NHL season. The loss of the Braves and the Predators, combined with Main Street Sports Group's ongoing financial difficulties, left the network without a sustainable programming foundation.

Closure

Main Street Sports Group anticipated that all FanDuel Sports Network channels would wind down their operations following the 2025-26 NBA and NHL regular seasons. FanDuel Sports Network South ceased operations on September 30, 2026, ending a 36-year run that had begun as SportSouth in 1990. The closure marked the end of one of the oldest regional sports networks in the country and the dissolution of a channel that had televised Atlanta Braves baseball for most of its existence, Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Hurricanes games for the Carolinas, and Grizzlies and Predators games for Tennessee. The network's teams dispersed to new broadcast homes: the Braves to their in-house BravesVision operation and Gray Media stations, the Predators to Scripps Sports and WNPX-TV, and the remaining franchises to their own arrangements. The network's former official website was fanduelsportsnetwork.com.