Bankrupt regional sports networks subsidiary Diamond Sports Group announced late last week that, starting Tuesday with the start of the NHL regular season, its Bally Sports Florida and Sun channels will cablecast 71 Tampa Bay Lighting pro hockey games, as well as 70 games for the rival Florida Panthers during the 2023-24 campaign.
With the confirmation, the Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary itself has now announced full-season local TV schedules for 10 of the 11 NHL teams remaining under the Bally Sports umbrella.
These declarations might offer some clues as to which NHL clubs Diamond and Bally keep around as they wind their way through restructuring.
Under Chapter 11 law, Diamond last week rejected its multi-year TV contract with the NHL's Arizona Coyotes, with the team bolting to a local broadcast deal with Scripps Sports.
Meanwhile, Next TV was unable to find an announcement originating from Bally Sports Southwest stating that the channel intends to show Dallas Stars games this season.
So far, the channel seems to have only posted on its landing page the team's official 2023-24 NHL schedule. The Stars start their regular season Thursday at home against the St. Louis Blues. Reached via email, a Diamond press rep directed Next TV to an announcement published by the Stars, stating that 70 of the team's 82 games will be presented on Bally Sports this season.
The team said the announcement was made "in conjunction with Bally Sports Southwest Senior Vice President and General Manager Steve Simpson." But it isn't available on the Bally Sports Southwest page.
Beyond the Lightning and Panthers announcements, Diamond has now made the following official proclamations for the following NHL teams:
Carolina Hurricanes Bally Sports South Schedule announced Sept. 6
Nashville Predators Bally Sports South Schedule announced Sept. 6
Minnesota Wild Bally Sports North Schedule announced Sept. 7
Detroit Red Wings Bally Sports Detroit Schedule announced Sept. 12
Los Angeles Kings Bally Sports West Schedule announced Sept. 14
Columbus Blue Jackets Bally Sports Ohio Schedule announced Sept. 15
St. Louis Blues Bally Sports Midwest Schedule announced Sept. 20
Anaheim Ducks Bally Sports West Schedule announced Sept. 28
Diamond is using the leverage provided by U.S. bankruptcy law to restructure pro team deals that it finds unfavorable.
The omission of a scheduling release, of course, doesn't necessarily mean that Diamond is walking away from the Stars. (Although, notably, the Stars' channel-mate on Bally Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers, were one of the Major League Teams listed as being money-losers for Diamond this past season.)
And just because scheduling announcements were made for individual clubs, it doesn't necessarily mean that Diamond, amid restructuring, might stop paying select teams as the season progresses, won't choose to walk away from those contracts.
But amid the intrigue regarding which pro club contracts Diamond will keep and reject, it is ... interesting.
Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor told Next TV sibling publication Broadcasting + Cable that his company stands ready to step in and broadcast games for NHL teams that, like the Coyotes, find themselves abandoned by Diamond and Bally Sports.
Scripps Sports is also now handling local TV rights for the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights, after the team's RSN, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, was abandoned by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
As Diamond works its way through a complex process of trying to shed more than $8 billion of debt, deals continue to be shed.
On Monday, for example, the company's lawyers filed a brief signaling Diamond's intention to walk away from mens college basketball's AutoNation Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in December.
