As Major League Baseball approaches Opening Day, Detroit finds itself at the center of a broader industry shift that continues to redefine how fans access their favorite teams. 97.1 The Ticket’s Mike Valenti pointed to the new Ilitch Sports + Entertainment product called Detroit SportsNet as an example as the new television and streaming home for the Detroit Tigers this season and the Detroit Red Wings beginning in 2026-27.
The move arrives amid continuing instability in the regional sports network model, a structure that once provided predictable local access through cable bundles but has since fractured under cord-cutting trends and bankruptcy proceedings that forced leagues such as MLB to assume distribution responsibilities in several markets.
During Tuesday’s edition of The Valenti Show with Rico on 97.1 The Ticket, Mike Valenti questioned whether the industry’s response to those challenges has prioritized revenue stability over consumer simplicity, arguing that the modern fan now faces a maze of platforms that complicates what used to be routine.
“Leagues. Teams. What they’ve asked or kind of demanded of fans. Think about what you have to do to watch all your sports,” Valenti said. “Every time you think you’re just going to watch the games, the league or teams are there with their hand out. It used to be, ‘Hey, you come to our house, we’re going to charge you to watch our product.’ Now, it is so many channels, so many platforms.”
Detroit SportsNet will function as both a traditional linear channel and a direct-to-consumer streaming service priced at $19.99 per month or $189.99 annually, offering in-market access without requiring a full cable subscription, while carriage agreements with providers remain under negotiation ahead of the season.
Valenti acknowledged that technology has made content more accessible in theory, yet he described the process of locating specific games across streaming services and apps as increasingly frustrating for average viewers.
“You got to have more TV channels, more streaming,” he said. “Just finding games is an annoyance. No, it’s not I’m helpless and I have to hit my life alert button. You’re looking for something in your fridge that you know is there. It’s just you can’t find it. That’s me currently with sports. I’m just like F-it. I don’t care. I’ll just watch what’s available to me.”
His larger concern centers on cost fatigue. Leagues continue expanding digital offerings while maintaining premium pricing. The strain is especially clear in sports with lengthy regular seasons. Those seasons require sustained engagement over several months.
“For a lot of people, 162 baseball games or 82 hockey games, wake me up for the playoffs,” Valenti said. “The average fan is not sitting there living and dying with this team on a Wednesday night in May. They’re not. So the $20 a month, I’m not shocked if some people go, I’m all set.”
Detroit SportsNet represents an attempt to consolidate local rights under one umbrella and provide year-round stability in a shifting marketplace, yet Valenti’s commentary underscores a larger question facing professional sports: as distribution models evolve, will convenience and affordability keep pace with innovation, or will regular-season engagement continue to erode as fans weigh cost against commitment.
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