The channel launched on March 4, 1988, as
Sunshine Network, originally serving as an affiliate of
Prime Network. The network was formed as a joint-venture of 11 cable companies and
Home Sports Entertainment. Later that year, Sunshine would obtain rights to broadcast the
Orlando Magic in their inaugural
season. In 1992, the network would also secure rights to another new team, the
Tampa Bay Lightning. In its early years, the network also aired some
public affairs programming in addition to sports. Because Florida did not have a
Major League Baseball team at the time, the network featured games from multiple teams including
Rangers,
Astros,
Tigers,
Orioles, and
Twins, along with college sports from
UCF,
Florida State,
Stetson and
Jacksonville Universities. In 1993, Sunshine gained rights to the
Florida Marlins expansion team. In 1997, half of the 70 game schedule was moved to rival
SportsChannel Florida (which at the time was owned by Marlins' owner
Wayne Huizenga). The following season, the entire schedule was moved to SportsChannel. In 1996,
News Corporation, which formed a
sports division for the
Fox Broadcasting Company in 1994 with the acquisition of the television rights to the
National Football Conference of the
National Football League, entered into a
joint venture with
TCI spinoff
Liberty Media and rebranded that company's Prime Network affiliates under the "Fox Sports Net" banner. Sunshine Network was the only
Fox Sports Net owned-and-operated charter outlet that did not rebrand under that name when it and the other Prime outlets relaunched as Fox Sports Net on November 1, 1996. Liberty Media (which at this point owned 49% of the network) proposed Fox Sports Sunshine as a new name for the network, but ultimately the rest of the owners did not approve it. In early 2000, Fox Sports Net programming moved from Sunshine to the newly rebranded
Fox Sports Net Florida. Sunshine Network changed its name to
Sun Sports on January 18, 2005, in order to reflect its sports-focused programming. Sun Sports and Fox Sports Florida were
spun off with the rest of the Fox Sports Networks and most of News Corporation's other U.S. entertainment properties into
21st Century Fox in July 2013. On October 4, 2015, Sun Sports changed its name to
Fox Sports Sun (
FSSUN). On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies,
The Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports Networks from
21st Century Fox, including Fox Sports Sun and sister network Fox Sports Florida. However, on June 27, 2018, the
Justice Department ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of
ESPN. On May 3, 2019,
Sinclair Broadcast Group and
Entertainment Studios (through their joint venture,
Diamond Holdings) bought
Fox Sports Networks from
The Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2019. On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operator
Bally's Corporation to serve as a new
naming rights partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021. On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the
2021 Major League Baseball season, Fox Sports Sun and sister network Fox Sports Florida were rebranded as
Bally Sports Sun and
Bally Sports Florida, resulting in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions. The first live sports event on Bally Sports Sun was at 7 PM featuring the Miami Heat at the
Indiana Pacers. The game was preceded with the "Heat Live" pregame show. On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed for
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. On May 1, 2024, the Bally Sports channels, including Bally Sports Sun, were removed from
Comcast's
Xfinity television service due to a carriage dispute with Diamond Sports Group. The dispute was resolved and the channels were restored on August 1 of that year, albeit on the more expensive "Ultimate TV" service tier rather than the basic tier. On October 16, 2024, it was revealed in a court filing that Diamond had reached a new sponsorship agreement with
FanDuel Group, under which it intended to rebrand Bally Sports as the
FanDuel Sports Network; on October 18, 2024, Diamond officially announced the rebranding, which took effect October 21. Under the agreement, FanDuel has the option to take a minority equity stake of up to 5% once Diamond Sports exits bankruptcy. The branding is downplayed during programming related to high school sports. On May 14, 2025, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they would leave FanDuel Sports Network Sun, with the
E. W. Scripps Company-owned
WXPX-TV taking over local broadcasts through
Scripps Sports. ==Programming==