Ilitch Sports + Entertainment has announced the launch of Detroit SportsNet (DSN), a new year-round broadcast home for the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings — and the move marks the latest evolution in a television relationship between the Tigers and Detroit fans that stretches back more than four decades.

The new channel offers flexible viewing options through cable and satellite packages, as well as in-market streaming, giving fans multiple ways to watch locally televised Tigers games starting this season, with Red Wings coverage to follow beginning in the 2026-27 season.

For Tigers fans of a certain age, the arrival of Detroit SportsNet carries an air of déjà vu. The franchise has changed its television home more than once over the years, and each transition has reflected the ever-shifting landscape of how sports are delivered to fans.

Tigers baseball on television actually predates cable by several decades. According to the Detroit News, Harry Heilmann and Ty Tyson were the first Tigers TV broadcast duo, calling games on WWJ-TV in 1950 and 1951. Van Patrick followed, working the booth from 1952 through 1959 alongside a rotation of partners that included Hall-of-Famers Dizzy Trout and Mel Ott. It was Patrick's partner George Kell who would help shape the franchise's broadcast identity for generations — Kell recommended the Tigers hire a broadcaster named Ernie Harwell, and the two worked together on WJBK from 1959 to 1963.

Perhaps the most beloved era in Tigers television history came when Kell was paired with fellow Hall-of-Famer Al Kaline. The two first worked together in 1976 and spent 21 years alongside each other, the longest Tigers TV tandem ever calling games across WWJ, WDIV, and eventually WKBD through 1996.

Before cable arrived, the Tigers briefly experimented with an early subscription television service. From 1981 to 1983, ONTV — described by the Detroit News as essentially cable before cable existed, carried Tigers games with a broadcast team that included fan favorites Norm Cash and Hank Aguirre.

The story of Tigers baseball on cable television, then effectively begins in 1984, when the Pro-Am Sports System — better known simply as PASS — launched on April 17 of that year as one of the first regional sports networks in the United States. Legendary Tigers catcher Bill Freehan was part of that inaugural PASS broadcast team, and the 1968 World Series hero Jim Northrup joined in 1985, working PASS games through 1992. The network was closely tied to the Tigers ownership from the start: it was founded by John Fetzer, the longtime Tigers owner who had just sold the club to Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan months before PASS went on the air. In its inaugural season, PASS carried 80 Tigers games — 64 at home and 16 on the road — as part of a seven-year contract. Fans paid $10 per month for the privilege, and cable subscriptions across metro Detroit were still measured in the thousands.

In 1992, Monaghan sold the Tigers to Mike Ilitch and sold PASS to Post-Newsweek Stations. PASS merged its operations with NBC affiliate WDIV-TV and moved its studios from Ann Arbor to WDIV's facility in downtown Detroit, converting from an evening-only premium service to a 24-hour basic cable channel. Ernie Harwell, who had famously been fired and later returned to the organization after Ilitch bought the team, called PASS games from 1994 through 1996.

By the mid-1990s, the regional sports network landscape was changing rapidly. In 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks made a surprise bid for Detroit Red Wings cable rights and announced plans to launch a competing Michigan sports channel,  what would become Fox Sports Detroit. When Tigers and Pistons broadcast rights came up for renewal, Fox won those contracts as well. Post-Newsweek, recognizing the Detroit market couldn't sustain two competing sports networks, sold the remaining PASS contracts to Fox and shut the channel down. PASS signed off at midnight on October 31, 1997.

Tigers games moved to Fox Sports Detroit starting with the 1998 season. Metro Detroit native Mario Impemba was hired in 2002, and he and analyst Rod Allen would go on to work 16 years together, the second-longest Tigers TV tandem in history, behind only Kell and Kaline. 

Detroit SportsNet is available starting now. Fans can subscribe for in-market streaming directly through the MLB App, which supports web browsers, mobile phones, and connected televisions.

Pricing comes in two options: a monthly plan at $19.99 and an annual plan at $189.99, which represents a savings of more than 20% over paying month-to-month. For fans signing up between now and March 22, there's a special introductory trial — $0 for Tigers baseball until April 1, including Opening Day in San Diego. Fans who lock in the annual plan now can effectively stack that offer with the built-in discount, covering all locally televised Tigers games for the entire 2026 season and a large portion of the 2026-27 Red Wings season before the subscription renews on April 1, 2027.

Fans can learn more and sign up at Tigers.com/detroitsportsnet or DetroitRedWings.com/detroitsportsnet. For fans who prefer traditional cable or satellite delivery, discussions with distributors are ongoing, and a list of participating providers and channel assignments will be shared once agreements are finalized, according to the press release. 

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