The National Hockey League (NHL) champion Florida Panthers have announced a new multi-year local broadcast deal with regional sports network (RSN) group Scripps Sports.
Scripps will televise locally produced Panthers games for at least the next two seasons in the Florida markets of Miami/Fort Lauderdale (WSFL-TV), West Palm Beach (WHD-TV), and Fort Myers (to be announced).
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The games will air on cable, satellite, and free over-the-air TV and the team will collaborate with Scripps on the launch of a Panthers-branded direct-to-consumer app to facilitate live streaming of Scripps Panthers games to local customers, to be ready before the beginning of the 2024-25 NHL season on October 4.
Speaking on the new agreement, Panthers chief executive Matthew Caldwell stated: “Scripps' distribution network and accessibility makes them the ideal partner to stream and carry Panthers content on and off the ice.”
The Panthers are currently one of the biggest commodities in North American ice hockey, as the current reigning NHL champions on the back of their second consecutive Stanley Cup final appearance that drew major viewership gains for the league across the seven-game series, the final of which drew almost 8 million viewers on ABC.
In the process, the Panthers will leave the beleaguered Bally Sports slate of RSN’s right when its owner Diamond Sports Group’s (DSG) future is most in doubt.
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By GlobalDataDSG is currently in court looking to exit bankruptcy, and the deciding confirmation hearing is scheduled for July 29, however, its major rightsholder partners (the MLB, NHL, and NBA) remain skeptical over the viability of its financial plan after it failed to secure a carrier deal with Comcast.
Panthers departing from DSG’s Bally Sports RSNs reduces its NHL coverage to 10 teams right at the point where it requires the most confidence from its broadcast partners, which also include 12 MLB and 15 NBA franchises.
