Scripps Sports has made a heavy push into the local broadcast rights for professional sports teams. The network’s president, Brian Lawlor, says it’s worked for both the company and the NHL and NBA teams they’ve partnered with.
The company currently owns the rights to four NHL franchises, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers, and Utah Mammoth. All of those teams left deals with regional sports networks on cable to take their broadcasts to free, over-the-air channels.
In a conversation with Sports Business Journal, Brian Lawlor says that the move has expanded the reach for the teams, and the increase in viewership has increased ad sales. That means the deals “basically make whole” the revenue figures the teams lost by leaving their RSNs for Scripps Sports.
He did note that the figures don’t work for every team or league, noting that the company ended conversations with a Major League Baseball franchise after learning it was receiving $70 million per year in its current deal, but said for other teams and leagues like the NBA and NHL, deals with his company makes plenty of sense.
“It’s been harder to make those big numbers work, but I think at the NBA and the NHL level, the ad model works and we can get there,” Lawlor said. “As more and more broadcasters get into sports and have these rights, they’re very valuable to the (distributors).”
He added that changes in the media landscape have made outlets like Scripps Sports much better competitiors than they were previously.
“Look, RSNs were a great business 10, 15, 20 years ago, when they reached 80% of the households. But they were successful because they had reach, and now they don’t anymore. And we have a platform that does,” he concluded.
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