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| Type | Regional sports network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Southern California Las Vegas Valley Hawaii Nationwide (via satellite) |
| Network | FanDuel Sports Network |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English Spanish (viaSAP) |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Main Street Sports Group (75%) Los Angeles Angels (25%)[1] |
| Parent | Sinclair Broadcast Group andEntertainment Studios |
| Sister channels | FanDuel Sports Network SoCal |
| History | |
| Launched | October 19, 1985; 40 years ago (1985-10-19) |
| Former names | Prime Ticket (1985–95) Prime Sports West (1995–96) Fox Sports West (1996–99, 2012-2021) Fox Sports Net West (1999–2004) FSN West (2004–12) Bally Sports West (2021-2024) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| DirecTV Stream | Internet Protocol television |
| FuboTV | Internet Protocol television |
FanDuel Sports Network West is an Americanregional sports network owned byMain Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as part ofFanDuel Sports Network, along with itssister networkFanDuel Sports Network SoCal. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events inCalifornia, focusing primarily on teams based in theGreater Los Angeles area. FanDuel Sports Network West is available oncable providers throughoutSouthern California, theLas Vegas Valley andHawaii; it is also available nationwide onsatellite viaDirecTV.
The network holds the regional broadcast rights to theLos Angeles Angels ofMajor League Baseball, theLos Angeles Kings of theNational Hockey League, andWest Coast Conference men's and women's basketball. The network also broadcast theLos Angeles Lakers of theNational Basketball Association until 2012, when broadcasts moved toSpectrum SportsNet.
FanDuel Sports Network West was launched under the Prime Ticket name on October 19, 1985; the channel was originally co-owned by Dr.Jerry Buss, majority owner of theLos Angeles Lakers andLos Angeles Kings, and cable television pioneer Dr.Bill Daniels, who held a minority ownership interest in both franchises. Unlike many of the regional sports networks in operation at the time of Prime Ticket's launch, the channel was (and still is) structured as a basic cable channel, instead of apremium service. The network originally broadcast for seven hours a day, each evening from 5:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.[2] The first contract with Prime Ticket was negotiated and signed by Tony Acone, who was appointed as president of the channel, and Bob Kerstein,chief financial officer of Falcon Cable TV. Leslie Watson, acertified public accountant employed by the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand, joined Prime Ticket as its first financial controller through the early years of the channel.
Prior to the launch of Prime Ticket,Los Angeles Lakers basketball andLos Angeles Kings hockey games (primarily home games that were not televised nationally) were carried within theLos Angeles market on the over-the-air subscription servicesONTV andSelecTV, in addition various local TV stations. Its original general offices were located in a small office building located across the street from theGreat Western Forum inInglewood.
Prime Ticket became one of the leading regional sports networks in the United States, rivaling theNew York City–basedMadison Square Garden Network. The network was founded at the height of the Lakers' 1980s championship run, and also got a boost from the trade that broughtWayne Gretzky to the Kings in 1988.
In late 1988, Daniels partnered withTele-Communications Inc. to form a new group of regional sports networks, known as thePrime Sports Network. Prime Ticket served as the flagship charter affiliate, joined by the newly formed owned-and-operated outlet Prime Sports Rocky Mountain (nowAT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain), and two networks that served as affiliates, Home Sports Entertainment (nowBally Sports Southwest) and the newly launched Sunshine Network (nowBally Sports Sun).
In 1990, Prime Ticket acquired the cable television rights to the California Angels (now theLos Angeles Angels) and theLos Angeles Clippers. The channel carried the Clippers'NBA games during the1990-91 season, before the team struck a broadcasting agreement withSportsChannel Los Angeles (originallyZ Channel) that went into effect the following season. SportsChannel Los Angeles later ceased operations in December 1992,[3] which left the city's professional sports teams having to broadcast their locally televised games either over-the-air or in the form of select cable-exclusive telecasts for the next four years.
In 1994, theSan Diego Padres came to an agreement with Prime Ticket to televise 25 home games on a new subfeed of Prime Ticket. Prime Ticket had previously been carried by cable providers in the San Diego area, but up until that point showed the same programming as Los Angeles.[4] Prior to moving to Prime Ticket, the Padres were on theSan Diego Cable Sports Network (apay-per-view service operated byCox Communications). The Padres would stay with Prime Ticket for only 3 seasons before returning to Cox on a basic cable service.
In August 1994, Buss and Daniels sold Prime Ticket to the Prime Network's parent company,Liberty Media, which subsequently rechristened the channelPrime Sports West. In 1996,News Corporation, which formed asports division for theFox network two years earlier after it obtained the broadcast rights to theNational Football Conference, acquired a 50% interest in the Prime Network from Liberty Media.[5]
On November 1, 1996, the Fox/Liberty joint venture relaunched the Prime Network affiliates as part of the newFox Sports Net; as a result, the channel was officially rebranded asFox Sports West.[6] The following year, Fox Sports Net expanded to other regions with the purchase of a 40% interest in theSportsChannel networks through an asset trade withCablevision Systems Corporation, forming the venture National Sports Partners to run the owned-and-operated regional networks.
On January 27, 1997, Fox Sports Net launched an additional channel, Fox Sports West 2 (currently Bally Sports SoCal). The in-market cable broadcasts of Los Angeles Clippers andAnaheim Ducks games moved to the new network which would also feature newly acquired rights to theLos Angeles Dodgers.UCLA andUSC basketball games which were not part of Fox'sPac-10 package were also moved to Fox Sports West 2.[7] The launch of the new network allowed Fox Sports West to focus its major league sports coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Angels.[8]
In 2000, Fox Sports West was rebranded asFox Sports Net West, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner.
In 2001, Fox Sports West and West 2 relocated their offices and studios from theCentury City section of Los Angeles toDowntown, in an office building two blocks east of theStaples Center. During this time, a street-side studio for the channel's game telecasts opened at the exterior of the Staples Center, at the southwest corner of 11th (Chick Hearn Court) and South Figueroa Streets. In 2004, the channel rebranded under the shortened namesFSN West, as part of Fox Sports' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand across its regional networks.
On April 3, 2006, FSN West 2 rebranded as FSN Prime Ticket, beginning with the Dodgers season opener against theAtlanta Braves atDodger Stadium. The change was made to address the perception of viewers that FSN West 2 was a secondary network.[9] Both networks adopted a new philosophy to concentrate more on local originally-produced content (such as thedocumentary seriesBefore the Bigs andIn My Own Words, and team-themedInsider shows) and less on supplemental national programming provided by Fox Sports Net. FSN West reverted to the Fox Sports West moniker in 2008.
In the fall of 2009, just as rivalESPN opened its new Los Angeles–based broadcast center directly across the street at theL.A. Live complex, Fox Sports West shut down its Staples Center streetside studio. The channel began to produce itspre-game andpost-game shows at the site of each televised event shown on the two networks; as weather permits, pre-game and postgame shows for most Clippers, Lakers and Kings home game are produced at Star Plaza, near the main entrance of Staples Center. The former Fox Sports Staples Center studio has since been converted into a conference center, withNike as the corporate sponsor.
In 2012, Fox Sports West andindependent stationKCAL-TV (channel 9) lost the television rights to the Lakers toTime Warner Cable under a new 20-year contract, which began in the2012-13 season with the launch of the newTime Warner Cable SportsNet. The new service also acquired the rights to airWNBA'sLos Angeles Sparks andMLS'sLos Angeles Galaxy games. In January 2013, TWC also signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, establishing a new team-specific channel known asSportsNet LA.
In July 2013, News Corporationspun off the Fox Sports Networks and most of its other U.S. entertainment properties into21st Century Fox.
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 West. 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.[10] The deal closed on August 22, 2019.[11]
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.[12] On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the2021 Major League Baseball season, Fox Sports West was rebrandedBally Sports West,[13][14] resulting in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions.[15]
On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed forChapter 11 Bankruptcy.[16]
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 will take effect October 21.[17][18] 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.[19][20]
In the Los Angeles market, in the case of scheduling conflicts, FanDuel Sports Network West will move a scheduled telecast of an Angels or Kings game toKCOP-TV (Channel 13), the localMyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station and sister station to the two networks.Those KCOP Angels telecasts may also be streamed via theBally Sports App for those outside of the Los Angeles DMA; Prior to the 2016-17 season, Kings games were not streamed on the application, as Fox Sports and the National Hockey League did not come to a streaming rights agreement until the summer of 2016.
Prime Ticket provided an alternate feed known as "Courtside View" during select Ducks and Kings home telecasts aired on Fox Sports West; the feature provided distinct camera angles and does not incorporate commentary, providing a broadcast simulating the experience of a spectator at the arena.
Bally Sports West maintains widespread cable carriage inSan Diego County. However, the two major providers in the area,Time Warner Cable andCox Communications, have refused to carry Prime Ticket since its launch in 1997; both cable providers claim that the network has asked for carriage fees they deemed to be too expensive for carriage on their expanded basic tiers. However, Prime Ticket was carried on some former systems that Time Warner Cable acquired in 2006 fromAdelphia Communications. Adelphia had added the channel to their lineup in 2001.
On March 17, 2012, as part of a contract signed with FSN to acquire the local cable rights to theSan Diego Padres, Fox Sports Networks created a separate regional network for the San Diego market,Fox Sports San Diego (now Bally Sports San Diego).[21] Despite that channel's launch, Bally Sports West remains available on cable providers in the San Diego area; however, Bally Sports San Diego carries some programming (including most live sporting events) from Bally Sports SoCal, which essentially makes striking any carriage agreement for that channel unnecessary.
Because the San Diego Padres hold territorial rights for all of San Diego County,Los Angeles Angels games areblacked out in the county on Bally Sports West regardless of the cable or satellite provider, requiring a subscription to theMLB Extra Inningsout-of-market sports package to view those telecasts. All other sports programming, with the exception of Angels baseball games carried on Bally Sports West, is available in San Diego County.
Bally Sports West and Bally Sports SoCal maintains widespread cable carriage in theLas Vegas Valley.On May 23, 2017, it was announced thatAT&T SportsNet had acquired theRSN rights to theVegas Golden Knights to televise broadcast games inSouthern Nevada on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain which started in the2017-2018 NHL Season.
Because the Vegas Golden Knights hold territorial rights for all of Southern Nevada,Anaheim Ducks andLos Angeles Kings games areblacked out in the Las Vegas Valley on Bally Sports West and Bally Sports SoCal regardless of the cable or satellite provider, requiring a subscription to theNHL Center Iceout-of-market sports package to view those telecasts. All other sports programming, with the exception of Ducks and Kings hockey games carried on Bally Sports West and Bally Sports SoCal, is available in Southern Nevada.
