The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have agreed to a multiyear deal with Scripps Sports that will result in local games being televised on over-the-air broadcast networks. These games will be available to watch on channels in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale (WSFL-TV), West Palm Beach (WHDT-TV) and Fort Myers (channel to be determined) markets where The E.W. Scripps Company will be able to televise all locally produced Panthers preseason and regular season games in addition to the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Distribution will take place on cable, satellite and over-the-air television in a deal that has attained necessary approvals from the NHL.
As part of the new broadcast deal, Scripps Sports and the Panthers will reveal a team-branded direct-to-consumer platform and announce further details prior to the 2024-25 season. The application will be the home of live streaming for all Panthers games produced by Scripps Sports within southern Florida. Scripps Sports will be responsible for producing pregame, in-game and postgame shows. Both Scripps Sports and the Panthers will also collaborate on a weekly Panthers program that displays the team, players and organization beyond the ice. The team had previously been broadcast on Bally Sports Florida, a regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group.
“After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and celebrating 30 years of Panthers Hockey in South Florida, we could not be more excited about the future of our hockey team,” Matthew Caldwell, president and chief executive officer of the Florida Panthers, said in a statement. “Scripps’ distribution network and accessibility makes them the ideal partner to stream and carry Panthers content on and off the ice. Panthers content will be available for free over the air and we are thrilled about the new homes this will reach as we continue to grow our great sport.”
Scripps Sports broadcast local games for the Vegas Golden Knights as part of a multiyear agreement signed before the start of the 2023-24 season. The company will also present games for the Utah Hockey Club, which makes its National Hockey League debut in the upcoming season, in addition to the WNBA and National Women’s Soccer League. Ion recently televised a matchup between the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics that averaged 1.02 million viewers, the first time a WNBA game on the network surpassed the 1 million mark. The company will now add the Panthers as the team looks to secure a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
“The Florida Panthers are the best team in the NHL, and their fans deserve to be able to see all of their games on every available broadcast platform, including free over-the-air,” Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports, said in a statement. “When the Stanley Cup champions take the ice in October, Scripps Sports will be proud to bring all locally broadcast games to all the Panthers fans in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers using our powerful over-the-air television stations.”
Lawlor said in an interview last year with Broadcasting & Cable that the company had contracts that were contingent on Diamond Sports Group dropping teams from its coverage. Diamond, a Sinclair subsidiary, has been in Ch. 11 bankruptcy since last March and is approaching a pivotal confirmation hearing later this month that is expected to determine the future of its business.
“After careful review and dialogue, Diamond reached a mutual agreement with the Florida Panthers to end our existing telecast rights contract,” a spokesperson from Diamond Sports Group said in a statement. “We greatly value the relationships we have built with the Panthers and their fans, and we wish them the best. We remain in productive discussions with the NHL around go-forward arrangements with our remaining team partners under contract and are focused on reorganizing as a sustainable and profitable entity.”
