No More Bally Sports Southwest For Texas Rangers, But Television Future Remains Unclear

It’s official — the Texas Rangers games will not air on Bally Sports Southwest in 2025.

But the Rangers didn’t announce it — Major League Baseball did.

In a release to the media on Tuesday, MLB announced that the Rangers would be leaving the regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group and will look for a new way to broadcast its games in 2025.

It’s the end of a nearly two-year long saga that saw DSG go into bankruptcy and nearly surrender the Rangers’ broadcast rights entirely last year before curing money it owed the Rangers for those rights.

What’s next for the Rangers is unclear, though the release noted that the team is exploring “local media options.” The Dallas Morning News reported two weeks ago that the Rangers were exploring creating their own Regional Sports Network, or RSN.

MLB announced that three teams with deals with DSG — Cleveland, Minnesota, and Milwaukee — would have their games produced and distributed by the league next season. San Diego, Arizona, and Colorado, also former DSG clients, have a similar arrangement.

The league has discussed the possibility of bringing as many teams under its umbrella as possible to either create its own network or its own direct-to-consumer (DTC) option.

Tuesday’s announcement brought some clarity for teams such as the Twins. Per The Athletic, 150 games will air locally without restrictions, with a dedicated local television station and direct to consumer digital streaming.

The Padres, the Diamondbacks and the Rockies offer DTC packages through MLB that are $19.99 per month or $99.00 for the season.

The Rangers have to replace the lost revenue of the TV deal in any way they can. They had a deal with DSG, signed when its rights went to Fox Sports Southwest, which brought the franchise more than $100 million per year. The Rangers received a reduced payment from DSG for 2024.

Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young acknowledged last month that the TV situation might again be a “factor” in what the Rangers can do in free agency.