The uncertainty surrounding the Angels’ TV contract reached a new level when they terminated their contract with Main Street Sports Group on Thursday, raising questions about how their televised games will be delivered to fans and how much revenue the Angels will generate in 2026.
Main Street, which is the struggling parent company of FanDuel Sports Network, missed payments to its baseball partners in the past month, so on Thursday all nine of them – including the Angels – terminated their contracts. Main Street is having similar issues with its partners in the NBA and NHL, including the Clippers and Kings.
There is now a 10-day period in which Main Street can still make payments, or reach new agreements, before the clubs are free to look elsewhere to reach new TV partnerships.
“The games are going to be on TV,” Angels president John Carpino said on Thursday. “We’re trying to keep this as seamless as possible for the fans.”
Recent reports from Sports Business Journal stated that Main Street will dissolve at the end of the current NBA and NHL seasons if it does not execute a sale to another platform.
“No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press on Thursday.
When other teams, such as the Padres, ended their deals with struggling regional sports networks, Major League Baseball took over production and distribution of the games.
The Angels could go that route, or owner Arte Moreno could create his own television network.
In the meantime, the question is how the Angels will operate, with potentially a significant drop in revenue from a change in their TV contract.
“Our focus, particularly given the point in the calendar, is to maximize the revenue that’s available to the clubs, whether that’s MLB Media or third party,” Manfred said. “The clubs have control over the timing. They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”
Manfred said local media provides more than 20% of industry revenue.
In 2024, MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to use some of the money generated from luxury tax overages to help fund teams that took local-media losses up to $15 million. That, however, was a one-time thing.
“We are not providing financial assistance right now,” Manfred said.
For now, it’s too soon to know what will happen.
“We are always looking at ways to improve the club, as we monitor the current television landscape,” Carpino said.
The Angels went through a renegotiation with Main Street in 2024, and it was one of the main reasons that Moreno said in February 2025 that he expected the Angels to lose $50 million in the coming season.
The Angels’ current payroll is already down significantly from last season, including having third baseman Anthony Rendon’s contract restructured to split his final $38 million over the next five seasons.
The most money the Angels have paid to any new player this offseason is a $5 million deal for relief pitcher Kirby Yates.
General Manager Perry Minasian, when asked about future spending on Wednesday, was noncommittal.
“We’re gonna see where the offseason takes us,” Minasian said. “We’ll go into spring training. There’s still a lot of good players available. There’s still time to improve the club.”
ARBITRATION SIGNINGS
The Angels reached agreements with five of their six arbitration-eligible players on Thursday, which was the deadline for teams to exchange figures.
The Angels signed outfielder Jo Adell ($5.2 million), shortstop Zach Neto ($4.15 million), right-hander José Soriano ($2.9 million), catcher Logan O’Hoppe ($2.625 million) and left-hander Brock Burke ($2.325 million) to one-year contracts for 2026.
The Angels were unable to reach an agreement with left-hander Reid Detmers, so they will likely go to a hearing with him. Detmers filed at $2.925 million and the Angels offered $2.625 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.