After Main Street: The Local Rights Reset for Sports Teams

Wednesday, April 29 | 12:30 PM ET

After Main Street: The Local Rights Reset for Sports Teams

With Main Street Sports Group expected to wind down after the NBA regular season and the first round of the NHL playoffs, teams that relied on its FanDuel-branded RSNs are being pushed into a rapid reset of local distribution strategy. The NBA has told Main Street’s 13 NBA teams they can begin signing new in-market deals for 2026-27, and recent context shows how quickly “Plan B” options are evolving: over-the-air partners, league-supported distribution models, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms that can deliver reach, ad inventory, and fan data. We’ll break down what this transition means for teams, and how emerging solutions from technology partners are changing the tradeoffs between revenue guarantees, production control, and audience access.

What We Will Discuss

• The immediate implications of Main Street Sports Group’s exit for MLB, NBA and NHL teams and their local media plans
• How leagues are approaching interim and long-term local distribution solutions, including league-supported and shared-service models
• The evolving role of over-the-air broadcast partners as part of hybrid local rights strategies
• What DTC platforms now offer teams in terms of control, data ownership, monetization, and audience reach
• The tradeoffs teams are weighing between guaranteed revenue, production responsibility, and long-term fan access
• How technology partners fit into the next phase of local media rights experimentation

Who Should Attend

• Team presidents, CROs, and senior executives responsible for local media and revenue strategy
• Media, distribution, and content leaders at professional sports teams and leagues
• Digital, streaming, and fan engagement executives evaluating DTC or hybrid distribution models
• Technology, production, and platform partners working with teams on local media solutions
• Sponsors and agencies interested in how local reach, ad inventory, and fan data are being restructured

Featured Speakers

Rick Allen is a co-founder and CEO of ViewLift. With over 30 years of experience in the sports, entertainment and digital industries, Allen has overseen a number of the largest media companies, including Sporting News and National Geographic, including the launch of the National Geographic channels. In addition to his work in the streaming space, he has authored two bestselling books and produced three award-winning films.

Caroline Carr is the Director of Streaming for Smith Entertainment Group, overseeing Jazz+, Mammoth+, and SEG+. Caroline started her career at ESPN in her home state of Connecticut, where she worked in the Programming & Acquisitions department focused on launching ESPN+ and managing programming for professional soccer leagues across linear and digital networks. After working closely with American and international soccer leagues, Caroline transitioned from the broadcaster world to the league side and worked for the Bundesliga, Germany’s professional soccer league, where she managed all broadcast relationships in the Americas. Caroline started working for Smith Entertainment Group in May of 2024, overseeing its existing DTC platform, Jazz+, and launching new platforms, Mammoth+ and SEG+ for the Utah Mammoth's inaugural season in 2024.

Narendra Nag has combined storytelling, technical knowledge, and strategic thinking across journalism, digital marketing, and streaming media — and across India, Asia, Europe, and the United States for the last twenty-five years.

In his current role as Chief Strategy Officer at APMC Inc., he helps build the future of the media industry — addressing both the commercial and technical challenges of the transition from cable to streaming. Before that, he founded Laminar, a platform that let media companies launch a global, full-featured streaming service in weeks rather than years. Laminar was acquired by APMC in December 2023. 

As Chief Digital Officer at Xynteo, he led the digital transformation of a mission-driven firm that works with executive leadership at some of the world’s largest companies — Unilever, Shell, Mastercard — on growth strategy rooted in purpose. Before that he spent six years at Publicis Groupe, using data-driven insight to build breakthrough end-to-end digital programs, and was acqui-hired to build digital teams in India before being asked to build multi-cultural, multi-country teams at the Asia level to serve global and regional clients. 

Before any of that, he spent nearly a decade as a journalist — across television (CNN-IBN) and print (Mint, the Wall Street Journal’s India partner). Narendra was part of the launch team of two television channels, and the habit of watching an industry get rewritten from inside has stayed with him ever since. 

Mike Schabel is Chief Operating Officer and President of Sports at Kiswe where he leads the company’s global sports business and works with leagues and teams to leverage digital streaming to create direct relationships with fans. A veteran technology executive, having previously held executive roles at Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent, and Bell Labs, Schabel is focused on how technology transforms fan and community engagement with live content.

David Wisnia is President and CEO of New England Sports Network (NESN) and SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP). NESN is the broadcast and streaming home of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, and owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North. SNP is the broadcast and streaming home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Pirates, who jointly own the network, which is managed by NESN. Wisnia joined as leader of the networks in 2024.

Before joining NESN and SNP, Wisnia served as Executive Vice President, Head of Global Networks Group for MGM Studios, leading and implementing an overall operational and growth strategy for MGM’s portfolio of domestic and international direct-to-consumer and linear networks (advertising supported and subscription) -- including day-to-day oversight of programming, affiliate and advertising sales, partnerships, marketing, traffic, engineering and operations, etc.

Prior to MGM, Wisnia was Senior Advisor at KKR backed Emerald Media -- a private equity firm that focuses on media and entertainment companies around the globe –- with a specific emphasis on investment opportunities throughout Asia (e.g. Endemol Shine in India). In this role, Wisnia worked with the co-founders of Emerald Media as well as some of its portfolio companies to drive trajectory-changing financial and operational results.

Before his time at Emerald Media and Big Play Scoring, Wisnia was President of Business Operations for the TV Guide Network (TVGN), a CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) owned cable network, which re-launched as POP in 2015. In this role, Wisnia spearheaded and implemented a strategic growth plan for the overall development and expansion of a network serving more than 80M households while reporting directly to the Board of Directors of the TV Guide Network. Wisnia supervised more than 180 staff members situated throughout an organizational structure and hierarchy incorporating multiple managerial levels and tiers as well as served as a member of TVGN’s Board of Directors – alongside CBS’s CEO and COO.

Wisnia earned his J.D. from Tulane Law School, a leadership and management certification from The Wharton School, and his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Irvine.

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the event.

***