Main Street Sports Group, the owner of the 15 FanDuel-branded regional sports networks, is leveraging its suite of local rights to create a new type of pregame show.
According to a report by Brian Steinberg in Variety, FanDuel Sports Network is launching a whip-around-style pregame show hosted by former SportsCenter anchor Stan Verrett. The show, which will begin its run on October 27 at 5:30 p.m. ET, is designed to take viewers across the country to preview numerous games within the three major leagues that FanDuel Sports Networks air: the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
“We have an ability on any given night to promote our games across three major sports, NBA, NHL, and MLB, and utilize all those resources from our trucks to the play by-play, to the game talent,” Main Street’s president of programming Norby Williamson told Variety. “It makes it fairly obvious that we should sort of create a whip-around style that can promoting games that night.”
Crucially, the show could expand outside of the FanDuel Sports Network ecosystem. Williamson says Main Street is “having conversations” with other regional sports networks to include their games in the program, allowing the show to have a truly national reach. Williamson is also open to the idea of licensing the show to regional sports networks outside of the Main Street umbrella.
Verrett will step into hosting duties for the show shortly after reports emerged that he will also serve as a pregame and postgame host for the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I’ve long admired the way local fans live and breathe their teams, and I’m thrilled to join FanDuel Sports Network to help bring that passion to life every night,” said Verrett, in a statement, per Variety. “What drew me here was the chance to do meaningful work that connects with fans on both a national and local level. Sports are about community, and I’m looking forward to being part of the team that brings that energy to viewers every day.”
The concept is certainly unique in the realm of regional sports networks. A quasi-national program that utilizes the numerous broadcast teams from local networks in an attempt to provide fans a well-rounded preview of the night’s action is rather novel. Credit where credit is due, this concept makes a lot of sense on paper.
The question is just how large is the audience for a show like this? Fans tune into their regional sports network to consume coverage of their local teams. Are they interested in what’s going on at another team across the country? Or will they simply tune in once this national whip-around show ends and normal pregame coverage for the local team begins?
It will be an uphill battle to get fans to care about teams outside their region, though this show certainly superserves hardcore fans that follow league-wide storylines.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.