Sergei Bobrovsky #72 and the Florida Panthers celebrate winning the Stanley Cup following a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in game seven of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 24, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida.
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The Florida Panthers are skating toward a new television home.
The National Hockey League's Stanley Cup champions have signed a deal to air regular-season games on local broadcast networks in Florida, leaving behind the regional cable sports network that has long been their home.
The Panthers, who have appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row, signed a multi-year deal with Scripps Electronic Writing Company which allows the broadcast station owner to televise all locally produced Panthers preseason and regular season games, as well as the first round of the playoffs.
The Panthers are also working with Scripps Sports to launch a streaming service, with more details expected before the start of the 2024 season.
Terms of the deal, which begins next season, were not disclosed.
Professional sports teams have increasingly turned to deals with local broadcast station owners as the business of regional sports networks takes a hit from consumers abandoning pay-TV packages in favor of streaming.
Notably, Diamond Sports Group, owner of the Panthers' former television home, Bally Sports Florida, has been in bankruptcy protection since March 2023.
“After careful review and dialogue, Diamond has reached a mutual agreement with the Florida Panthers to terminate our existing broadcast rights agreement,” a Diamond spokesperson 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 regarding future arrangements with our remaining team partners under contract and are focused on reorganizing as a sustainable and profitable entity.”
Since filing for bankruptcy, Diamond Sports has terminated numerous contracts with professional sports teams, which in turn have found new homes on broadcast television networks.
It has become a moment of significant change for the industry. The business model of regional sports networks has long been lucrative for leagues and teams, as networks pay large fees for the rights to games that are not broadcast nationally.
These deals with broadcasting station owners promise a huge increase in reach and audience numbers. Matches are now available on the broadcast networks to all pay-TV subscribers, as well as free of charge to people using an antenna.
However, while the terms of these deals have not been disclosed, they are unlikely to yield contracts of the same size as those of regional sports networks. The Panthers had reportedly renewed their deal with Bally Sports Florida in 2022, doubling the value of the team’s previous 10-year agreement, which was about $6 million per year.
Last year, Scripps signed a similar deal with the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Las Vegas Golden Knights.
Meanwhile, the NBA's Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz are also broadcast on local broadcast stations. Several broadcast station owners have shown interest in becoming home to professional sports as the traditional RSN business is under considerable pressure.
There may also be more opportunities, as Diamond Sports is still working to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
Last month, leagues expressed concerns about the future of Diamond Sports and whether it would be able to come up with a viable business plan ahead of upcoming seasons. Diamond will return to bankruptcy court later this month to seek approval of its reorganization plan.
