Texas Rangers Announce Next Stage of 2025 Regional Television Plans

The Texas Rangers announced the formation of a subsidiary that will manage the Rangers Sports Network, which will broadcast games for linear and cable for the 2025 season.

The Rangers made the announcement in a formal release. This comes two weeks after the Rangers announced a partnership with the Dallas Stars’ Victory app, which through Victory+ will give Rangers fans a direct-to-consumer option for streaming.

The new subsidiary will be called the Rangers Sports Media & Entertainment Company and ti will manage the Rangers Sports Network (RSN) and its REV Entertainment arm.

Neil Leibman, who is part of the ownership group for the Rangers, will oversee RSN and REV and relinquish his role as the Rangers’ president of business operations and chief operating officer.

Long-time front office member Jim Cochrane will take over Leibman’s role with the organization.  

“One of the main goals when seeking solutions for Rangers television broadcasts was to give fans more access to our games,” said Rangers majority owner Ray Davis said in a release. “We determined that the best path toward providing our fans with more options is to handle many of the broadcast obligations in-house.”

The Rangers did not announce linear or cable partners for RSN, but it will oversee game production and distribution. The intention is for RSN to be available on “select broadcast television, cable, satellite, and digital streaming platforms.”

Texas is now closer to having a full picture of how its games will be broadcast and distributed next season, which has been in flux for two years since Diamond Sports Group, which owned the Bally Sports regional networks, declared bankruptcy.

The Rangers got their broadcast rights back last year after DSG and Bally (now FanDuel), went through the bankruptcy process and agreed to return those rights as part of the overall settlement.

One of the significant issues in the Rangers’ relationship with DSG was market access to games. DSG failed to secure deals with major carries that locked out many Rangers fans from watching games.

Television rights fees, in part, help pay player salaries. Before the bankruptcy, the Rangers reportedly had one of the better rights fees deals in baseball, as they received more than $100 million per year from DSG, and before that, Fox Sports Southwest.

Since DSG went into bankruptcy, the Rangers have not signed a player to a nine-figure contract. For part of 2023, DSG withheld rights fees from the Rangers until they were compelled to pay.