The Texas Rangers have abandoned the digital platform Victory+ effective immediately and, starting Friday, will instead stream their games on the freshly designed DTC service BZZR. The in-season move reflects the financial challenges inside Victory+, which has had three recent negotiations with NBA teams fall apart and were also dropped Wednesday by the NHL’s Ducks. Victory+ declined comment.
As part of the launch of the Rangers Sports Network in early 2025, the Rangers had chosen Victory+ as their initial DTC partner and offered fans a yearly paid subscription option. Since February, however, Victory+ has had difficulty securing additional financing. And according to multiple sources, Victory+ has had equal trouble funding its minimum guarantee payments to teams in multiple leagues.
Up until now, Victory+ has streamed games free for the NHL’s Stars and Ducks and WNBA’s Lynx and Dream. With the Ducks out of the picture, it is unclear whether the Stars — who reportedly have a financial stake in Victory+ — will remain with the platform. In the case of the Lynx and Dream, those teams do not receive a minimum guarantee and are merely in an advertising revenue share with Victory+.
The Rangers’ and Ducks’ decisions to leave almost certainly end Victory+’s recent pursuit of NBA teams. Sources said the Magic, Hornets and T’Wolves were, at one point, all prepared to air their 2026-27 games on Victory+. But it was contingent on Victory+ obtaining new financing, which never materialized. The issue, according to those sources, was that those three teams wanted deals with one-year exit clauses — considering the NBA’s centralized hub was coming in 2027-28 — and the potential financiers believed there was no upside to a short-term investment.
“If you’re an investor and you want to put $30M into Victory+ and you only have a one-year contract? That’s a no-go,” said a source. “That’s really been the bottom line. It’s really not because of the tech, not because of the management. It’s really because the length of the NBA deals has been a challenge to get investors to sign up for big money.”
The Rangers Sports Network was proactive and made the choice to leave now for BZZR, a unique verified all-sports digital and content platform that launched in April. BZZR’s website describes it as “the world’s first streaming and social media platform built exclusively for sports.” Neil Libman, a Rangers minority owner who is the chairman of Rangers Sports Media and Entertainment Company, is listed as a director of BZZR. The BZZR app is available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Chromecast, with plans to be available on other services, the Rangers said.
Linear broadcasts will remain unchanged and be distributed through the same cable, satellite and OTA providers. For digital broadcasts, all DTC subscriptions — both monthly and yearly — will be transferred to BZZR. To make the switch simple, the Rangers will send an email to fans Wednesday, asking them to create a BZZR account and authenticate their new subscription.