How Heat, Marlins, Panthers navigated new media world and what it means for fans
For most of 33 years, there was only a single way to watch a full diet of Heat, Marlins and Panthers games: through Florida’s two regional sports networks.
The name of the channels changed over three decades — from SportsChannel to Fox Sports Sun/Fox Sports Florida to Bally Sports to FanDuel Sports — but the rules for viewers stayed the same: If you pay for cable or satellite service, you could watch all the games.
For a time, some games were available on free TV; those of a certain age will remember the two seasons, at the turn of the century, when WAMI-69 carried some Heat games. But as a rule, you needed cable or satellite service to watch all the games.
But the model for NBA, MLB and NHL teams has changed, and our market’s full circle moment arrived on Monday, when the Heat moved its game to WPLG 10, two years after the Panthers also fled the RSN model and a year after the Marlins did the same.
None of this would have happened — at least not the Marlins’ and Heat’s moves — if Main Street Sports had not encountered economic hardship. All of the FanDuel Networks — including the two in Florida — remain on life support, expected to shutter in the months ahead.
The Panthers began the migration away from regional sports networks by moving their games to Scripps-39 before the 2024-25 season.
The Marlins moved their games to MLB’s in-house streaming platform, Marlins.TV, after Main Street failed to pay its right fee in January.
And the Heat moved to Channel 10 this week after it became clear that FanDuel had only months to live.
So how that these moves affected fans? Evaluating the pros and cons, for viewers, of each of the three moves:
HEAT
The new rights-holder: WPLG 10 and its free streaming platform.
The pros: Unlike Marlins and Panthers games, all Heat games will be available, at no extra charge, to everyone in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Except for Dish Network, all of South Florida’s largest non-streaming cable and satellite providers — Comcast Xfinity, Breezeline and DirecTV Satellite — carry WPLG.
The cons: Those whose cable and satellite providers don’t carry WPLG — a group that includes YouTube TV, DirecTV Streaming, Hulu, Fubo and Dish — must take the extra step of downloading WPLG’s new streaming platform, LOCAL 10 Plus Platinum. That will allow those viewers to watch the games, for no charge, on smartphones, tablets and Smart TVs.
Accessing the streaming platform isn’t difficult for most, but it could be a challenge for those who aren’t tech-savvy or older viewers who aren’t accustomed to streaming sports.
Here’s the other issue: WPLG says it won’t stream the games on its app north of Broward County because it cannot legally do so. That means it’s not yet clear how viewers in Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Lee and Martin counties can watch the games; the Heat plans to look for affiliates in those markets.
What else to know: For the first time, all Heat games airing or streaming on national platforms will be exclusive to those platforms. In the past, some ESPN and Peacock and Amazon Prime games also could be carried by FanDuel Sports Sun.
Bottom line: Kudos to the Heat for move the games to a free platform that requires a charge only for out-of-market fans who want to watch the Heat through NBA League Pass.
Last season, the Suns were the only team to offer its games free of charge. Now the Heat and Pistons will, too.
The Heat owners don’t do interviews, but Suns owner Matt Ishbia explains why he made the same decision that the Heat has now made — to present his product for free.
“It’s maybe not the most financially successful decision from a business owner, financial [standpoint], but it’s the right decision,” Ishbia said in a recent interview with Arizona Family Sports. “And I told [other owners], ‘It might not look right on paper from a numbers perspective right away.
“But the right thing is that long-term it’s the winning play, and it’s the right thing to do.’ And it’s our jobs as owners in the NBA, there’s 30 of us, to do the right thing by the fans and build something really cool.”
Credit the Heat for doing the same.
PANTHERS
The rights-holder: Scripps 39.
The pros: The Panthers kept the games accessible, for no additional charge, for most South Florida cable and satellite subscribers. And the games became free for those without cable or satellite TV.
The cons: Several providers, including YouTube TV, don’t carry Scripps 39. Viewers who want to see the Panthers but don’t have Channel 39 must pay $69.99 for a full season, through the Panthers Plus streaming platform. There were discounts offered at different points last season and cheaper prices available for season-ticket holders.
Also, DirecTV is immersed in a carriage dispute with Scripps and recently dropped the stations nationally, at least for now. That will an issue for some Panthers fans if it’s not resolved by October.
Comcast Xfinity and Scripps had a temporary blackout earlier in the year, but that dispute was resolved and Xfinity now carries Channel 39.
What else to know: Panthers games that are exclusive to TNT or ESPN or ESPN Plus or ABC aren’t included in the Panthers Plus package.
Bottom line: Credit the Panthers to moving their games to an over-the-air station that can be widely accessed. They were the first to do it in this market, largely because their contract with FanDuel expired first.
But unlike the Heat, both the Panthers and Marlins are charging fans who want to stream the games, albeit a reasonable amount that comes out to about $1 per game for Panthers viewers.
MARLINS
The rights-holder: MLB and the Marlins.
The pros: The majority of fans have been able to continue watching games without additional charge or additional trouble.
Five cable and satellite providers signed up to provide the games on a standalone channel, all at no additional charge. Those five are Comcast Xfinity (with games airing on channel 1261), DirecTV (channel 655 for both streaming and satellite homes), Cox (66), AT&T U-verse (1718) and Charter Spectrum, which carries games on channel 360 in its South Florida digital homes (primarily Miami Beach) but on different channels in homes in Orlando, Tampa and few other markets upstate.
FuboTV also is carrying the games at no additional charge.
The cons: The move off FanDuel made watching the Marlins more difficult and costly for subscribers of Breezeline (which services North Miami Beach, Aventura, Sunny Isles and other pockets of Dade and Broward), Blustream and Hotwire. All three of those providers carried Marlins games on FanDuel last season but aren’t carrying Marlins games this season.
Also, YouTube TV, Dish Network and Hulu did not agree to a deal to carry the games this season.
So Marlins fans with any of those six providers must pay $19.99 per month or $99.99 for the full 157-game package. Marlins season-ticket holders get half price off the season rate. Viewers with a Smart TV or Firestick can stream those games on their televisions, though fans who are technologically-challenged might need help from a friend or relative.
What else to know: Five Marlins games on Peacock are not part of the 157-game package.
Bottom line: For many, watching Marlins games is more expensive than watching Panthers or Heat games in this new post-FanDuel era. It’s a tough spot for the Marlins, who want to build their fan base but also need to rely on subscriptions to build revenue. And all MLB teams with a streaming platform are charging, so the Marlins are hardly alone.
This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 11:49 AM.
