Stanley Cup champion Panthers sign deal to move local broadcasts from Bally to Scripps Sports
The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are moving their local broadcasts to Scripps Sports, leaving financially troubled Bally Sports and bringing the club’s games into more homes on a regular basis than ever before
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are moving their local broadcasts to Scripps Sports, leaving financially troubled Bally Sports and bringing the club’s games into more homes on a regular basis than ever before.
There will be over-the-air channels in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers markets, where viewers can watch the Panthers for most of their regular-season games and their first-round games in the NHL playoffs. Also part of the deal: games on basic cable and satellite, as well as offerings on a new team-branded, direct-to-consumer streaming app. The app will be ready in October for the start of the 2024-25 season, the Panthers said.
“We want to ensure that we’re addressing the heightened demand for our team and our sport, and we want to accelerate that growth,” Mark Zarthar, the Panthers’ chief strategy officer, said Tuesday. “And so, what is the next big step for us is making the viewership of our games much more accessible? With Scripps as an over-the-air provider, they will help us reach over 2.6 million households.”
The move, which already has received NHL approval, comes at perhaps the perfect time for the Panthers.
Attendance has soared in each of the past two seasons, with more than 1 million tickets sold at home games this season for the first time, including playoffs. The team says it is seeing more than a 70% increase in youth hockey numbers over the past decade. And an estimated 400,000 people braved torrential rain and lightning for the
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