Bally Sports Detroit

American regional sports network

Bally Sports Detroit (BSD) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group that operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. It provides coverage of local sports teams in the state of Michigan, primarily focusing on those in Metro Detroit. The network airs exclusive broadcasts of games involving the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and Detroit Red Wings; repeats of Detroit Lions preseason games; and some state college and high school sports. Bally Sports Detroit is available on cable television throughout Michigan, as well as in northeastern Indiana, northwest Ohio and some portions of northeastern Wisconsin and nationwide on satellite via DirecTV. Bally Sports Detroit is available for streaming through DirecTV Stream and FuboTV. The network's production facilities and offices are based in Southfield, Michigan, with master control operations based at the Sinclair Broadcast Group Media Operations Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The network also maintains dedicated remote sets in the concourses of Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena.

Bally Sports Detroit traces its origins to 1996, when News Corporation purchased 50% of the Prime Network, a group of regional sports networks owned by Liberty Media, and immediately rebranded them under the "Fox Sports Network" banner. At the time of the purchase, Post Newsweek Stations (owners of Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV TV, channel 4) owned the Detroit based Pro Am Sports System (PASS Sports), which served the local affiliate of the Prime Network. News Corporation announced plans to launch a Fox Sports Net affiliate in Michigan, and made a surprise bid for, and won, the local cable television rights to NBA games involving the Detroit Pistons. When PASS Sports' respective National Hockey League and Major League Baseball broadcast rights to the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers franchises came up for renewal, Fox Sports Net made a bid for the contracts and won them both. Post Newsweek, meanwhile, concluded that its coverage area was not large enough to support two RSNs and sold the remainder of its Tigers and Pistons contracts, and the contract of sportscaster John Keating, to Fox Sports Detroit. On October 1, 2009, the network unveiled a new all digital high definition capable studio in its Southfield headquarters dubbed the "Call Sam Studio", named after its sponsor, the Sam Bernstein Law Firm. It serves as the production base of the pre game/post game shows Tigers Live, Pistons Live and Red Wings Live, as well the magazine shows of all three teams and all of the channel's other local programming. It was expected that 80% of the shows produced from the studio would be produced and broadcast in HD. The first program to originate from the new studio was Wingspan, a special previewing the 2009–10 Red Wings season, on October 1. Bally Sports Detroit also airs Lions Live after regular season games, and Monday head coach press conferences.

On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from 21st Century Fox, including Fox Sports Detroit. However, on June 27, 2018, the Justice Department ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of ESPN Inc.

On May 3, 2019, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (through their joint venture, Diamond Sports Group) bought Fox Sports Networks from The Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2019. In October 2020, YouTube TV and Hulu failed to reach agreements with network owner Sinclair, leading those streaming services to drop the channel. On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operator Bally's Corporation to serve as a new naming rights partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021. On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the 2021 Major League Baseball season, Fox Sports Detroit was rebranded as Bally Sports Detroit, along with 18 other regional sports networks following suit in their respective regions. On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

Detroit Red Wings – Bally Sports Detroit holds the exclusive local television rights to 70 Detroit Red Wings regular season games, as well as some preseason games and the first round of the playoffs.

Pistons Weekly – A 30 minute in season show featuring off the court stories from the Detroit Pistons. Hosted by George Blaha, the program also airs on WDIV TV. Pistons In Focus – A 30 minute show that premiered during the 2009–10 season with biographies of notable Pistons players and coaches past and present, hosted by Eli Zaret. Those examined have included Isiah Thomas, Chuck Daly, Bill Laimbeer, Dave Bing and Tayshaun Prince. Wingspan – a 30 minute in season show featuring off the ice stories of the Detroit Red Wings. Inside the Tigers – A 30 minute in season show featuring off the field stories of the Detroit Tigers. Inside Michigan Football – A 30 minute weekly discussion of University of Michigan Wolverines football with head coach Jim Harbaugh, hosted by Jim Brandstatter. The program also features interview segments with Wolverines players, as well as locker room footage and special features presented by Doug Karsch. Formerly known as Michigan Replay, which began on WDIV TV in 1980 (its original title was retired in honor of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr). It is also shown on Big Ten Network and ABC affiliate WXYZ TV (channel 7) and via Big Ten Network On Demand. Inside Michigan Basketball – A 30 minute weekly discussion of University of Michigan Wolverines men's basketball with head coach Juwan Howard, hosted by Matt Shepard. Maintaining a format similar to Inside Michigan Football, the program is also shown on Big Ten Network and available via Big Ten Network On Demand. Michigan Sports Weekly – A weekly series chronicling the University of Michigan Wolverines sports scene; it is hosted by Doug Karsch. The program is also shown on Big Ten Network and the Michigan Channel. Spartan Sports Zone – A weekly program chronicling the Michigan State University Spartans sports scene; it is hosted by Dave Ellis. The program is also shown on Big Ten Network and Fox College Sports Atlantic. One on One with Tom Izzo – A 30 minute show featuring Michigan State University Spartans men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo and sports anchor Mickey York. It is also shown on Big Ten Network. One on One with Mel Tucker – A 30 minute show featuring Michigan State University Spartans football head coach Mel Tucker and sports anchor Mickey York. It is also shown on Big Ten Network. Michigan Golf Live – A pre recorded weekly show that promotes golfing and golf courses in Michigan, hosted by Bill Hobson.

The Detroit Sports Report (or simply DSR) – A Detroit/Michigan centered sports news show created in September 2000 by Fox Sports Net to help increase ratings for the National Sports Report. Marc Soicher and Angie Arlotti (now Mentink) were the original anchors of the 10:00 p. m. show, while Soicher hosted a 7:00 p. m. edition of the program solo. Mickey York and Brad Adam hosted the weekend editions of the program. In 2003, Mickey York promoted to weeknight co anchor replacing Soicher, following his departure for FSN Rocky Mountain, with Ryan Field (previously with WJBK and sports radio station WDFN) replacing York as weekend anchor in addition to serving as a correspondent. Ratings for the Detroit Sports Report remained decent, despite declining ratings for the National Sports Report, which itself was canceled in 2002; FSN dropped many of the regional sports news programs over the next few years, with the Detroit Sports Report being the last to be canceled in April 2007. Pistons Insider – A 30 minute pre recorded in season pregame show in which Matt Shepard and Pete Skorich preview the night's Pistons opponent. It was canceled after the 2008–09 season. Motor City Memories – Discussion of memorable Detroit Pistons teams of the past, hosted by George Blaha. It was replaced by Pistons In Focus for the 2009–10 season. Spotlight: Detroit – A series profiling prominent Detroit sports figures. In My Own Words: Detroit – A 30 minute interview featuring a sports figure in Detroit. This show is similar to Chris Myers Interview. The show debuted September 9, 2007. John Keating was the host. The program was canceled in 2008. MHSAA Football Friday Overtime – Debuted in August 2011, the program includes highlights, analysis and interviews from high school football games around the state. Hosted by Mickey York and Rob Rubick, it aired live Friday nights at 12:00 a. m. during the fall. Fox Sports Detroit was the home of the WNBA's Detroit Shock until the 2009 season, after which the team relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma. State Champs! High School Sports Show – A 30 minute show focusing on Michigan high school sports and certain non athletic competitions including statewide school participation for the FIRST Robotics Competition.

Bally Sports Detroit Extra is a game time only alternate feed of Bally Sports Detroit that was originally branded as Fox Sports Detroit Plus. It was launched in 2007 to solve scheduling conflicts, such as those of the Detroit Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings, as well as CCHA games, MHSAA finals for football and basketball, and The Mid American Conference basketball tournament (via Bally Sports Ohio). It is frequently used for live college football, college basketball, college baseball and tennis telecasts and other events distributed nationally by BSN, to avoid conflicts with local coverage. Bally Sports Detroit Extra has been used for special alternate feeds of local games, such as the annual "¡Fiesta Tigres!" game which celebrates Latin American players, in which alternate announcers conducted Spanish language play by play; a "Position by position" Tigers game, with the camera isolating on a different defensive player every inning featuring John Keating on play by play; as well as a "Social networking" Tigers telecast in which the channel's staff answered viewer questions from Facebook, Twitter, and their own website.

Fox Sports Detroit On Demand was the video on demand service of Fox Sports Detroit, which is currently available on Comcast. Launched in October 2008, its offerings include the channel's magazine and coach's shows, which are presented commercial free. On August 7, 2009, Fox Sports Detroit On Demand began carrying full length presentations of the channel's Tigers game broadcasts.