Main Street Sports sent a notice to the state of Minnesota signaling the impending end of FanDuel Sports North, which is headquartered in downtown Minneapolis and currently has local broadcast rights to the Timberwolves, Wild and Lynx.
The state’s Rapid Response Team said Main Street, the parent company of the FanDuel regional sports networks, sent a Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice indicating “the closure and permanent layoff of approximately 20 employees. ... The entire facility will close and all employees including those in remote positions will be impacted. The resulting action will occur during the 14-day period beginning on April 14, 2026.”
Such WARN notices are required by federal law to be sent 60 days before actions like large-scale layoffs or shutdowns can take place.
Let’s look at what it means at the start of today’s 10 things to know:
- While the layoffs and headquarter closure are still reversible, the legal notice and its timing coinciding with the end of the Wolves and Wild’s seasons offer another strong signal that FanDuel Sports North will cease to operate in a couple months.
- Main Street has been mired in bankruptcy proceedings and has been unable to find a buyer to chart a path forward. They issued similar notices of FanDuel layoffs and closures in Hartford and St. Louis, with CEO David Preschlack providing this statement to Fox2 in St. Louis: “FanDuel Sports Network is continuing to broadcast NBA and NHL games as we engage in discussions with our partners about our go-forward plans. While final decisions have not been made, we have issued WARN notices to employees, as required by law, in connection with potential workforce impacts that could occur in the coming months. Any and all aspects of the WARN notices can be revoked at any time.”
- NBA teams have not been paid their rights fees in January or February, and the league is negotiating with creditors to receive at least partial payments. It appears the NBA and NHL will at least make it through this season without having to make a hasty mid-year broadcast change. But barring the last-minute emergence of a path forward for Main Street, it appears the Wolves, Wild and Lynx will be looking for a new local broadcast partner in their next regular seasons.
- The Lynx would have the greatest urgency since the WNBA season is slated to start in May (pending the approval of a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and players). The Wolves’ local rights could be part of a bundled package with as many as 12 other NBA teams next season. What the plan would be for the 10 NHL teams currently on FanDuel channels, including the Wild, is less defined. Both of their 2026-27 regular seasons start in October.
- The bottom line for local sports viewers: Nothing is going to change for a couple of months, but after that a lot could change quickly.
- On Wednesday’s Daily Delivery podcast, Star Tribune Twins writer Bobby Nightengale helped add perspective to a newsy first week of spring training. We talked about the Pablo López injury and Byron Buxton’s winter of discontent, among other things.
- The Olympic curling tiebreakers make the NFL system seem cut-and-dried. But the upshot is the U.S. still has a chance on both the men’s and women’s sides even after tough losses Wednesday.
- There will be more Olympics talk on Thursday’s podcast with La Velle E. Neal III.
- Unless there is a museum dedicated specifically to solid defense, the Gophers men’s basketball team’s 61-44 win late Wednesday over Oregon will not be on display anytime soon. But it was still a good program-building moment for Niko Medved and the six players who saw action for the depleted Gophers.
- Vikings free agent wide receiver Jalen Nailor is projected here to get a three-year, $36 million deal.
