The Portland Trail Blazers organization is parting ways with ROOT Sports, agreeing to a split with the regional sports network with one year remaining on the contract. This move brings the Trail Blazers in a cadre that includes the Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns as teams to move on from cable television and pursue other broadcast opportunities. While no announcement has been made about where fans can watch games, a report from Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal indicates that as many as four over-the-air stations are aiming to air the teams. Moreover, a direct-to-consumer app is reportedly in development, which would allow fans to view games away from a traditional television apparatus.
Warner Bros. Discovery exited the regional sports network business last year, placing ROOT Sports in complete ownership by the Seattle Mariners. John Stanton, the majority owner of the team, stated earlier in the summer that the plan was to continue operating the network independently for the 2025 season. Yet in the last six months, the outlet has now lost the Seattle Kraken and Portland Trail Blazers, raising questions pertaining to the sustainability of the outlet.
“Trail Blazers basketball will no longer air on ROOT Sports, but we thank ROOT Sports for years of great partnership,” the Portland Trail Blazers said in a statement. “An exciting announcement on the future television home of Blazers basketball will be made soon.”
The ongoing Ch. 11 bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group and changes of industry headwinds have raised questions about the viability of regional sports networks going forward. New York Knicks owner James Dolan criticized the new 11-year media rights deals signed by the National Basketball Association with The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), NBCUniversal (NBC, Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video), claiming that they threaten “to completely eliminate” regional sports networks. This point of contention was raised after an increased amount of exclusive and nonexclusive games for national partners, presumably reducing the overall number of games for regional sports networks.
As Diamond Sports Group tries to determine its reorganization plan after receiving an extension from the bankruptcy court, it is currently looking to continue operations beyond the 2024-25 NBA season. The Sinclair subsidiary had originally planned to cease operations following the 2024 MLB season; however, a deal with Amazon that includes a $450 million proposal with creditors to continue business has now altered the equation.
The NBA had previously agreed to a deal with Diamond Sports Group in which the league and the 15 teams under the Bally Sports banner would receive control of their broadcast and digital rights in the offseason. Amid the bankruptcy proceedings, the company has dropped and/or lost teams such as the San Diego Padres, Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers, and sources indicated to Friend that Diamond Sports Group is close to losing one more team in the NBA. Among the group of teams that could reportedly leave are the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic.
The Trail Blazers broadcast a preseason game over-the-air on FOX 12 KPTV, owned by Gray Television, and the network also presented regular-season games for the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League. Additionally, the organization has its own production team and sells advertising inventory for games as well. The Trail Blazers will try to qualify for the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season when the Western Conference team was eliminated in the first round.
