FanDuel Sports Network Ohio

Overview

type	Regional sports network
country	United States
area	Ohio Indiana Kentucky Northwest Pennsylvania West Virginia Southwest New York Nationwide (via satellite)
network	FanDuel Sports Network
headquarters	Cleveland, Ohio
language	English
picture format	720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV)
owner	Main Street Sports Group
launch date	February 9, 1989
former names	SportsChannel Ohio (1989–1998) Fox Sports Ohio (1998–1999, 2008–2021) Fox Sports Net Ohio (1999–2004) FSN Ohio (2004–2008) Bally Sports Ohio (2021–2024)
online serv 1	FanDuel Sports Network app
online chan 1	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)
online serv 2	DirecTV Stream
online chan 2	Internet Protocol television
online serv 3	FuboTV
online chan 3	Internet Protocol television
website	https://www.fanduelsportsnetwork.com/

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports Ohio) is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) as part of the FanDuel Sports Network chain.

The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on professional sports teams based in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus.

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio is available on cable providers (plus U-Verse and DirecTV) throughout Ohio, as well as parts of Indiana, Kentucky, northwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Tennessee, border communities of West Virginia, and extreme southwestern New York; it is also available nationwide on satellite via DirecTV.

History

The channel originally launched on February 9, 1989, as SportsChannel Ohio. It launched as an affiliate of SportsChannel, a slate of regional sports networks operated as a joint venture between Cablevision and NBC

Programming

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio holds the exclusive regional pay television rights to the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers (since 1990), and the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets (since 2000). The channel also carries a select number of college basketball games involving the University of Dayton and Northern Kentucky University.[16][17] The network formerly held the local rights to college basketball games featuring Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati through the 2019–20 season, and the exclusive regional pay television rights to MLB's Cincinnati Reds (1991 - 2026).

The channel formerly broadcast Cleveland Indians games from the network's launch as SportsChannel Ohio, until Fox Sports Ohio lost the rights as a result of the team starting eventual sister network SportsTime Ohio in March 2006. Despite this move, Reds games continued to be blacked out in most of Northeast Ohio, the designated market area of the now-Guardians. When Reds games air in the rest of Ohio, the Cleveland feed airs generic national Fox Sports Networks programming unless a local Cleveland event is scheduled. Although they came under common ownership following Fox's purchase of the latter in 2012, Bally Sports Ohio did not share broadcast rights to any sporting events with Bally Sports Great Lakes and vice versa (unlike arrangements that exist between Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast, and Fox Sports Florida and Fox Sports Sun), with both networks maintaining their own respective team television contracts. From 2019 to 2021, Columbus Crew games were split between Fox Sports Ohio and SportsTime Ohio, although those telecasts were blacked out in the Cincinnati area due to the presence of FC Cincinnati.

On October 19, 2016, Fox Sports and the Reds announced an extension of their broadcast agreement to the end of the 2032 season. The deal included the Reds taking an equity stake in the Cincinnati sub-feed of Fox Sports Ohio.[18][19] In November 2024, amid the Diamond Sports bankruptcy, the Reds agreed to exit the contract and would sign with MLB Local Media for the 2025 season. On January 13, 2025, the team announced that it had instead renewed with Main Street Sports Group, and would remain on FDSN Ohio for the 2025 season.[20][21] On February 2nd, 2026, the Reds terminated their broadcast agreement with Main Street Sports Group, and announced that MLB Local Media would produce and distribute Reds games starting in the upcoming 2026 MLB season.[22]

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio was also the broadcaster for the AHL's Cleveland Monsters until 2024 when the Monsters signed a new deal with Gray Television.[23]

Notable on-air staff

Current

Cleveland Cavaliers

John Michael – play-by-play
Austin Carr – color commentator
Brad Daugherty – color commentator
Serena Winters – sideline reporter
Cayleigh Griffin – pregame/halftime/postgame host
Daniel Gibson – pregame/halftime/postgame host

Columbus Blue Jackets

Steve Mears – play-by-play
Jody Shelley – color commentary
Dave Maetzold - in-game/locker room reporter
Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre - pregame/intermission/postgame (Blue Jackets Live) co-host
Brian Giesenschlag – pregame/intermission/postgame (Blue Jackets Live) co-host

College sports

John Cooper – analyst for Game Time with Ryan Day
Jim Lachey – analyst for Game Time with Ryan Day
Chris "Beanie" Wells – analyst for Game Time with Ryan Day

Cleveland Cavaliers

John Michael – play-by-play
Austin Carr – color commentator
Brad Daugherty – color commentator
Serena Winters – sideline reporter
Cayleigh Griffin – pregame/halftime/postgame host
Daniel Gibson – pregame/halftime/postgame host

Columbus Blue Jackets

Steve Mears – play-by-play
Jody Shelley – color commentary
Dave Maetzold - in-game/locker room reporter
Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre - pregame/intermission/postgame (Blue Jackets Live) co-host
Brian Giesenschlag – pregame/intermission/postgame (Blue Jackets Live) co-host

College sports

John Cooper – analyst for Game Time with Ryan Day
Jim Lachey – analyst for Game Time with Ryan Day
Chris "Beanie" Wells – analyst for Game Time with Ryan Day

Former staff

Columbus Crew

Neil Sika – play-by-play[24]
Jordan Angeli – color commentary[25]
Brett Hiltbrand – sideline reporter/pregame/halftime/postgame host (Crew Live)[26]

Cincinnati Reds

John Sadak - play-by-play
Chris Welsh – primary color commentary/fill in co-host Reds Live

Columbus Crew

Neil Sika – play-by-play[24]
Jordan Angeli – color commentary[25]
Brett Hiltbrand – sideline reporter/pregame/halftime/postgame host (Crew Live)[26]

Cincinnati Reds

John Sadak - play-by-play
Chris Welsh – primary color commentary/fill in co-host Reds Live
Jeff Brantley – color commentary (select games)
Barry Larkin – color commentary (home games)
Jim Day – sideline reporter/Alternative play by play
Brian Giesenschlag – co-host Reds Live
Sam LeCure – co-host Reds Live/Cincinnati Reds color commentary (select games)
Annie Sabo – Fill in co-host Reds Live

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio

History

Feeds

Programming

Notable on-air staff

Current

Cleveland Cavaliers

Columbus Blue Jackets

College sports

Cleveland Cavaliers

Columbus Blue Jackets

College sports

Former staff

Columbus Crew

Cincinnati Reds

Columbus Crew

Cincinnati Reds

External links

References