In March 2017, unconfirmed reports speculated that Sinclair was planning to shutter its sports unit,
American Sports Network, and give its remaining sports rights to
Campus Insiders. The
Charleston Gazette-Mail, however, citing ASN employees, reported that the rumors of a complete shuttering were false, but that the division was planning to re-locate its headquarters, restructure its operations, and achieve "stronger, more diversified distribution." The original rumors were based upon reports of layoffs from ASN's current headquarters in
West Palm Beach, Florida, connected to the planned re-location. On April 13, 2017, Sinclair officially announced that ASN would be re-launched later in the year as part of a joint venture with Campus Insiders owner Silver Chalice (itself owned by the
Chicago White Sox), and its online sports video service
120 Sports. The new operation will be operated as linear and digital offerings; the linear service would utilize the syndication and broadcast network built out for ASN, while the digital platform would stream full-time online and through
Twitter. 120 Sports would provide original studio and long-form programming to the venture. On May 1, 2017, it was announced that the new joint venture would be known as Stadium. On June 1, 2017, it was reported that Stadium would officially launch around late-July 2017. The service officially launched on August 21, 2017. In 2019, with Sinclair's expansions into
regional sports networks via acquisitions of
Fox Sports Networks, a minority stake in
YES Network, and the establishment of
Marquee Sports Network with the
Chicago Cubs, Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said of Stadium's role in the expanded sports offerings: "That will be our national play. I don’t see it competing head to head with
FS1 or
ESPN. It's not there yet with its maturity." In 2021, Stadium began to synergize with the rebranded
Bally Sports, including co-producing an
Opening Day launch special for the networks on April 1, and adopting its on-air graphics package for college sports broadcasts beginning in the 2021–22 academic season. The Fox College Sports cable channels were quietly rebranded as
Stadium College Sports in June, and in 2022 Stadium began to produce the national studio show
The Rally for the Bally Sports channels. In May 2023, amid the bankruptcy of Bally Sports' parent company
Diamond Sports Group, Sinclair sold its controlling interest in Stadium to Silver Chalice. Sinclair stated that the network did not have enough viewership to continue funding it. The network continued to supply some programming. As a consequence of the sale, Sinclair discontinued its distribution of Stadium in October 2023, replacing it with its new network
The Nest. Stadium College Sports also ceased operations at the end of the year. In June 2025, Stadium replaced
Chicago Sports Network on some of its Illinois OTA affiliates, as CHSN was required to leave as part of its carriage agreement with Comcast. == Distribution ==