Brewers' new TV deal for 2026 expected to be met with mixed reactions

Over the last few weeks, baseball fans likely heard the Milwaukee Brewers described as a "small-market" team. During the National League Championship Series, which pitted David (the Brewers) against Goliath (the Los Angeles Dodgers), much of the talk around the baseball world was in regard to the discrepancy in resources available for the final two teams in the NL.

Those resources are in large part determined by the revenue that organizations bring in from their TV deals. Those that exist in large markets like Los Angeles or New York inevitably generate more revenue from said deals, allowing them to afford higher payrolls. There is certainly more nuance and factors that exist that allow the Dodgers to spend three times the amount of money on their roster than the Brewers do, but the leading factor is the size of the TV market that the team exists in.

Milwaukee, which is sandwiched between the TV markets of Chicago and Minneapolis, is often considered the smallest market in baseball. Various ways of measuring TV market size may result in the Brewers being second or third to last when it comes to market size, but the distinction hardly feels necessary when said market is a fraction of the size of their counterparts' regardless.

While talks of revenue sharing, like the method that the NFL has adopted, have gained some headway, a world where MLB distributes revenue fairly still feels several years away. Therefore, the Brewers remain reliant on their regional broadcast deal that leaves them in a different payroll class than the teams they are competing with. Just moments ago, MLB.com's Brewers beat reporter, Adam McCalvy, announced that they have renewed their deal with FanDuel Sports Network, meaning games will be delivered to fans next season the same way that they were in 2025.

FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin to continue airing Milwaukee Brewers games in 2026

As McCalvy notes, the new deal is an extension of the previous deal that the Brewers and FanDuel Sports Network held, and doesn't have a reported end date at this time. From Fox Sports Wisconsin to Bally Sports Wisconsin and now FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, Brewers fans have had to adjust to the constant shuffling of TV deals in recent years, but can at least enjoy some consistency for the 2026 season, knowing that games will continue to air just as they did in 2025.

For some, it's great news, as those who have yet to cut the cable cord will continue to be able to watch Brewers games on channel 31 or 669 or whatever channel your TV provider has assigned to FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin. For others who have switched to a streaming-only strategy, it means another year of purchasing the FanDuel Sports Network subscription for their app, which isn't always reliable.

That said, there's another reason why this is good news for Brewers fans: payroll stability. When TV rights are up in the air, as they were a season ago, teams like the Brewers, who need that revenue to be able to support their club, will generally take a more conservative approach to spending in the offseason. That, among several other reasons, contributed to the Brewers having a quiet offseason a year ago.

Now that the team has their TV deal settled early in the offseason, it may free up the front office to be a little more aggressive this offseason.