TAMPA — Where Lightning fans will be able to watch locally televised games next season remains uncertain as the operator of regional rights holder Bally Sports Sun attempts to emerge from bankruptcy while other teams, including the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, leave for more stable, wider-reaching broadcasting options.
The Lightning are still under contract with Bally to broadcast all non-nationally televised regular-season games, plus the first round of the playoffs, in 2024-25, and the team and network are preparing to broadcast games status quo next season.
But it remains to be seen whether Diamond Sports Group, which owns the Bally regional sports networks, can successfully reorganize out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The 16-month saga seemed to be nearing a conclusion, but Monday’s reorganization confirmation hearing, when a judge was expected to decide whether or not Diamond could move forward, was delayed. The company hopes recent progress will lead to a reorganization that will provide the Bally regional sports networks and their teams with long-term stability.
In the meantime, the Lightning contend with uncertainty. Will their longtime regional sports network home continue to exist? How long can they and other teams wait to find out? And what might the future hold for local sports broadcasts?
Will Bally still be around for hockey season?
A carriage-fee dispute with Comcast has been the biggest obstacle in Diamond’s reorganization. Bally’s channels were pulled from Comcast’s XFinity cable service in early May, when Diamond couldn’t reach a new agreement with Comcast, taking away Diamond’s third-largest distributor. (XFinity isn‘t broadly available in Tampa Bay, servicing parts of Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties but not Pinellas or Pasco.)
Diamond secured deals with Charter Communications (which operates top local cable provider Spectrum), as well as DirecTV and Cox. But the loss of Comcast, followed by Bally’s lineup falling off Altice USA’s Optimum cable systems (not available locally) earlier this month, accounted for 16% of Diamond’s national customer base, according to Sportico.
Diamond and Comcast reportedly returned to the negotiating table in recent weeks, and on Wednesday the reorganization confirmation hearing was postponed to give the sides more time to work out a deal. Comcast reportedly wants to place the Bally regional sports networks on a higher-priced subscription tier, which Diamond opposes.
A new date has yet to be set, but Diamond reported in court Wednesday that it won’t need much more time to get its reorganization plan in order, adding that it has had “productive discussions” with the NHL. That is promising news for the Lightning‘s relationship with Bally Sports Sun, which hopes to remain the team’s local TV home for the long term.
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Explore all your optionsThough the Comcast dispute affects few viewers in the Tampa Bay area, it’s the latest in a long list of distributors that have cut ties with Bally, including local cable providers such as Verizon (formerly Frontier) and streaming options like YouTubeTV and Hulu. Combine that with a BallySports+ direct-to-consumer app that has been criticized for its cost and functionality issues, and fans have had reasons to be dissatisfied with Bally.
Other caveats could help Diamond push its reorganization plan to the finish line, including a heavy investment from Amazon that would give the company a minority equity share and streaming rights to its Amazon Prime Video product. In addition, Diamond reportedly has agreed to terms with FanDuel to take over the networks’ naming rights from Bally, contingent on Diamond emerging from bankruptcy.
NHL teams leaving the Bally stable
Several NHL teams that had been under the Bally umbrella didn’t bother to wait for the outcome of Diamond’s reorganization confirmation hearing, most notably the Cup champion Panthers.
The Lightning’s cross-state rival earlier this month became the third team to partner with Scripps Sports. Under a multiyear deal, Scripps will broadcast the Panthers’ non-national exclusive games starting in 2024-25 after its contract with Diamond was dissolved.
In addition, the Dallas Stars earlier this month were granted their request to end their rights agreement with Bally. The team partnered with A Parent Media Co. Inc. to launch a free, ad-supported, direct-to-consumer streaming service called VICTORY+.
The Lightning are one of only nine NHL teams remaining with Bally, along with Anaheim, Carolina, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville and St. Louis.
Meanwhile, Scripps has become a major player over the past year. The Vegas Golden Knights joined Scripps from now-defunct AT&T SportsNet. The Utah Hockey Club became a partner prior to relocating from Arizona after Bally Sports Arizona shuttered last year.
The Scripps model is aimed at reaching a wider regional audience without the need to pay for cable or streaming subscriptions, a throwback to the days before regional sports networks paid teams hefty rights holder fees for exclusivity.
Scripps, which also has deals with the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League, will broadcast Panthers games over-the-air on three stations (Scripps-owned WSFL-TV in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, independently owned WHDT-TV in West Palm Beach and a to-be-determined station in Naples/Fort Myers), so fans can watch games at no cost with a TV antenna.
Out-of-market games will remain available through the ESPN+ subscription service. Those games also will be available through most basic cable and streaming packages. The Panthers plan to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service as well. The Golden Knights previously developed a similar service after signing with Scripps.
Could Scripps be an option for the Lightning should things fall apart with Diamond? Conceivably. Scripps programming in other local markets is broadcast on local Scripps-owned stations. WXPX-TV is a Scripps-owned Ion affiliate that serves the Tampa Bay region.
The company doesn’t talk about specific markets, Michael Perry, Scripps’ senior director of external communications, said in an email.
“But in general,” he said, “we look for teams that are trying to maximize the reach of their broadcasts to engage more of their fans, teams that want to work together in a partnership, markets where we have an existing broadcast station and staff, and markets with business/sponsorship support for their local teams. There are a lot of factors that go into these discussions.”
There’s still much to play out over the next several weeks regarding the future of Diamond and Bally Sports. As of now, the Lightning plan to continue their partnership with Diamond. But as the season draws closer, the company’s uncertain status becomes more and more of a concern.
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