 | |
| Type | Regional sports network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Kansas City metropolitan area Kansas Nationwide (via DirecTV; games only) |
| Network | FanDuel Sports Network |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Main Street Sports Group Kansas City Royals |
| Sister channels | FanDuel Sports Network Midwest FanDuel Sports Network Indiana |
| History | |
| Launched | March 31, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-03-31) |
| Replaced | Fox Sports Midwest (within designated broadcast area) |
| Former names | Fox Sports Kansas City (2008–2021) Bally Sports Kansas City (2021–2024) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability (some events may air on overflow feed Bally Sports Midwest Extra due to event conflicts) | |
| Streaming media | |
| FanDuel Sports Network app | www.fanduelsportsnetwork.com (U.S. cable internet subscribers only; requires login from participating providers to stream content; some events may not be available due to league rights restrictions) |
| DirecTV Stream | Internet Protocol television |
| FuboTV | Internet Protocol television |
FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City is an Americanregional sports network owned byMain Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group), and operates as an affiliate ofFanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts coverage of professional, collegiate, and high school sports events both within and outside theKansas City area. It maintains offices atKauffman Stadium inKansas City, Missouri.
FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City is available oncable providers throughout western and centralMissouri,Kansas, easternNebraska, andIowa; it is also available nationwide onsatellite viaDirecTV.
Originally operating as a subfeed ofFox Sports Rocky Mountain, thenFox Sports Midwest in 1998, the network formally announced that it would spin-offFox Sports Kansas City as a separate channel on January 24, 2008, after Fox Sports Midwest signed an exclusive long-term broadcast agreement with theKansas City Royals. The agreement was struck following the dissolution of theRoyals Sports Television Network, a regional network formed in 2003 to broadcast games and analysis programs for theMajor League Baseball franchise, which distributed its event telecasts to broadcast and cable affiliates throughout theMidwestern andSouth Central United States.[1] Specifically, Fox Sports Kansas City was created to avoid scheduling conflicts with coverage ofSt. Louis Cardinals games televised by Fox Sports Midwest.
On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies,The Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from21st Century Fox, including Fox Sports Kansas City. However, on June 27, 2018, theJustice Department ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership ofESPN. On May 3, 2019,Sinclair Broadcast Group andEntertainment Studios (through their joint venture,Diamond Holdings) boughtFox Sports Networks fromThe Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion.[2] The deal closed on August 22, 2019.[3] On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operatorBally's Corporation to serve as a newnaming rights partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021.[4] On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the start of the2021 Major League Baseball season, Fox Sports Kansas City rebranded asBally Sports Kansas City, resulting in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions.[5]
On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed forChapter 11 Bankruptcy.[6]
On October 16, 2024, it was revealed in a court filing that Diamond had reached a new sponsorship agreement withFanDuel Group, under which it intends to rebrand Bally Sports as theFanDuel Sports Network; on October 18, 2024, Diamond officially announced the rebranding, which took effect October 21.[7][8] Under the agreement, FanDuel will have the option to take a minority equity stake of up to 5% once Diamond Sports exits bankruptcy. The branding will be downplayed within programming related to high school sports.[9][10]
FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City holds the exclusive regional cable television rights to the Kansas City Royals, and produces the Major League Baseball team's pre-game and post-game showRoyals Live and the weekly magazine programRoyals Insider. From 2017 to 2021, the channel held the exclusive regional television rights toSporting Kansas City broadcasts.[11] Because at the time there was Royals and SKC programming at the same time, FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City is provided to cable operators as two separate channels, which normally carry identical programming.
During thecollege football season, the channel broadcastsKansas Jayhawks andKansas State Wildcats games in different time slots to avoid scheduling conflicts; the channel also broadcasts Kansas State Wildcats basketball and volleyball and baseball from the Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks.
The channel also carries select events televised by FanDuel Sports Network Midwest including games from theSt. Louis Blues (NHL); basketball, volleyball, baseball and wrestling events from theMissouri Tigers, withthe university's college football games televised on an alternate feed.[1] The Blues games are only shown within the Kansas City metropolitan area, as a separate feed exists for the rest of the state of Kansas.[12]
Other sports programming on the network includesBig 12 Conference regular season women's basketball and baseball games, and championship matches from both conference-sanctioned sports; regular season and championship basketball games from theMissouri Valley Conference; college coaches' shows; football and basketball championships from theMissouri State High School Activities Association; andNBA games from theOklahoma City Thunder televised byFanDuel Sports Network Oklahoma.[1] In addition selectMinnesota Timberwolves (produced byFanDuel Sports Network North) are shown outside of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
| Region served | MLB | NBA | NHL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | Minnesota Timberwolves (FanDuel Sports Network North) | Oklahoma City Thunder (FanDuel Sports Network Oklahoma) | St. Louis Blues (FanDuel Sports Network Midwest) | |
| Kansas City, St. Joseph, Lawrence |  |  | | |
| Rest of Kansas | | | | |
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** Owned by third parties and operated by Sinclair through various operating agreements. *** Owned by Sinclair and operated byMarquee Broadcasting. JV Joint venture. | ||||||||||||||||||