In a season where there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the Bally-branded regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, the LA Clippers have renewed an over-the-air television contract. For the second consecutive season, the Clippers will broadcast games on broadcast and cable television in their final season at Crypto.com Arena. The team has plans to move to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. to begin the 2024-25 campaign with championship expectations.
Clippers fans will be able to watch 11 regular season games on KTLA in a two-year partnership renewal, along with all four preseason exhibitions. The KTLA broadcasts will also be shown on several out-of-market affiliate stations in cities such as Santa Barbara, Fresno and San Diego. Bally Sports SoCal will broadcast 63 regular season contests; however, the National Basketball Association is reportedly set to take over regional broadcasts for teams should Diamond Sports Group neglect to pay the media rights fees.
The regional sports network operator, which was created as a subsidiary to Sinclair, Inc. when it acquired 22 FOX-branded RSNs from The Walt Disney Company. This move took place when Disney was required to divest the assets so it could garner antitrust approval in a $71.3 billion deal to acquire 21st Century Fox.
Sinclair purchased the RSNs for $9.6 billion and had the broadcast rights for 42 teams across the NBA, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. Since Diamond declared Ch. 11 bankruptcy in the spring to eliminate over $8 billion in debt, it has been selectively rejecting existing contracts, threatening to leave teams without a broadcast home. Diamond has until Sept. 30 to submit a reorganization plan to U.S. bankruptcy court and recently sued its parent company for fiscal misconduct.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that the league needs to “reimagine” its relationship with regional sports networks, something with the potential to influence conversations as the national media rights deal expires after next season. Silver has conveyed that the league is aiming to add more digital components to the package to reach a younger audience that is cutting the cord more hastily than ever before. In fact, the practice has caused a total drop of more than 3.1 million subscribers within the total multichannel audience.
The Clippers are the third NBA team to broadcast their contests on over-the-air television, following a model instantiated by the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz. The Suns in particular faced potential litigation after Diamond blocked its move to Gray Television stations, but ultimately had the lawsuit dropped to air all local contests on Arizona’s Family television stations.
Utah Jazz games are produced through owner Ryan Smith’s production company, SEG Media, and broadcast on KJZZ with a direct-to-consumer streaming service available for purchase. According to Smith, the team would be able to reach 100% of its desired audience within the new arrangement, whereas games were only accessible to 39% of households in the state.
“Making live Clippers games available to all Southern California viewers is a priority for the Clippers,” Gillian Zucker, the team’s president of business operations, said in a statement, “especially as we prepare to move into our new home, Intuit Dome, for the 2024-25 season.”
The broadcasters for the games on both KTLA and Bally Sports SoCal will remain consistent, with Brian Sieman as the play-by-play announcer and Jim Jackson and Mike Fratello as color commentators. Kristina Pink and Jaime Maggio will join on the sidelines for Bally Sports SoCal broadcasts, and KTLA reporter David Pingalore will take the responsibility for the over-the-air games. The studio crew of Jeanne Zelasko, Don MacLean and Corey Maggette will remain consistent regardless of the platform.
LA is scheduled for 22 national broadcasts across The Walt Disney Company (ABC/ESPN) and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT/NBA TV) platforms. All local games will also be available to stream on ClipperVision, a team-owned direct-to-consumer platform entering its second season.
