Bally Sports New Orleans
| Company type | Regional sports network |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports television |
| Predecessor | Fox Sports New Orleans |
| Founded | October 31, 2012 |
| Defunct | October 21, 2024 |
| Fate | Rebranded to FanDuel Sports Network and ceased operations |
Area served | Louisiana, East Texas, South Alabama, Florida Panhandle, southern Mississippi |
| Products | Regional sports broadcasting |
| Owner | Diamond Sports Group (Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios) |
Bally Sports New Orleans was a regional sports channel in the United States, owned by Diamond Sports Group, a partnership between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios. It operated as part of the Bally Sports network until it transitioned to the FanDuel Sports Network branding on October 21, 2024. The channel focused on delivering local sports content, covering professional and collegiate teams in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana.
This network was accessible through various cable providers across Louisiana, East Texas, South Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and southern Mississippi, including major carriers such as Cox Communications, AT&T U-verse, Charter Spectrum, Suddenlink Communications, and Comcast. Its reach extended to roughly 2.5 million subscribed television households. Additionally, it was available via satellite service on DirecTV until that distribution ended in 2024.
Operations of Bally Sports New Orleans ended on October 21, 2024, following the loss of its professional sports broadcasting rights. The New Orleans Pelicans transferred their coverage to the newly launched Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network by Gray Television, which offers both over-the-air and streaming options through flagship station WVUE-DT. Concurrently, the Dallas Stars shifted their broadcasts to the streaming platform Victory+, while the Texas Rangers chose not to renew their contract amid Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy proceedings.
History
The channel originally debuted as Fox Sports New Orleans on June 25, 2012, after Fox Sports Networks secured a long-term deal to air NBA games for the New Orleans Hornets (now known as the New Orleans Pelicans). This regional cable rights agreement followed Cox Sports Television’s decision against contract renewal. The network officially launched on October 31, 2012, showcasing 75 Hornets games during its first season.
On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced intentions to purchase all 22 Fox Sports regional networks, including Fox Sports New Orleans, from 21st Century Fox. However, due to antitrust concerns related to Disney’s ownership of ESPN, the Department of Justice mandated divestiture in June 2018. Subsequently, on May 3, 2019, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios acquired these networks through their joint venture Diamond Holdings for $10.6 billion. The transaction was finalized on August 22, 2019.
In November 2020, Sinclair entered into a partnership with Bally's Corporation to obtain naming rights for the FSN channels. This resulted in a rebranding of Fox Sports New Orleans to Bally Sports New Orleans on March 31, 2021, coinciding with the start of the Major League Baseball season and aligning with eighteen other regional sports networks under the Bally Sports umbrella.
Bankruptcy and shutdown
On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports Group—the parent company of Bally Sports—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following a missed interest payment of $140 million.
The network’s decline intensified after July 3, 2024, when it was announced that the Dallas Stars, whose games had been broadcast on Bally Sports New Orleans, would terminate their contract and move broadcasts exclusively to the free streaming platform Victory+. On August 23, Diamond Sports reached new long-term agreements with both the NHL and NBA that included reductions in rights fees by approximately 20% for NHL teams and between 30% and 40% for NBA franchises. Despite this, contracts with the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks were canceled; the Pelicans subsequently launched Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network in collaboration with Gray Television, leaving Bally Sports New Orleans without any major professional sports teams. These deals are set to expire after the conclusion of the 2024–25 season if Diamond fails to confirm a bankruptcy restructuring plan. Furthermore, the contract with the Texas Rangers also terminates after the 2024 season, further reducing Bally Sports New Orleans’ programming lineup.
On October 16, 2024, Diamond announced a new sponsorship arrangement with FanDuel Group, which would lead to rebranding all Bally Sports networks as the FanDuel Sports Network starting October 21. FanDuel is expected to have an option to acquire up to a five percent equity stake following bankruptcy proceedings. The FanDuel branding will be limited in high school sports content. With no remaining professional sports broadcast rights left on its schedule, Bally Sports New Orleans quietly ceased operations on October 21—the same day as the FanDuel rebrand—making it the second Diamond Sports regional network to shut down after Bally Sports Arizona closed exactly one year earlier.
Programming
Bally Sports New Orleans provided coverage of the Pelicans' preseason, regular season, and early conference playoff games. Additionally, it broadcast Major League Baseball contests featuring the Texas Rangers, along with selected National Hockey League games of the Dallas Stars from its affiliated channel Bally Sports Southwest. The network previously featured college sports from both the Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences.
Starting in 2014, Fox Sports New Orleans began televising certain Tulane Green Wave football games, debuting with the September 9 game against Duke. The network also sought broadcast rights for programming related to the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers; although it obtained some LSU football, basketball, and volleyball content, it did not succeed in securing rights for Saints-related broadcasts.
On June 16, 2018, FSNO aired a FIFA World Cup group stage match between Argentina and Iceland originally shown on Fox. The local station WVUE-DT chose not to air this game due to scheduling conflicts with mandated educational programming during the World Cup period.
New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans
- Paul Crane – Host for Pelicans broadcasts
- Jen Hale – Sideline reporter for Pelicans
- Joel Meyers – Play-by-play commentator for Pelicans
- Antonio Daniels – Color analyst for Pelicans