The Phoenix Suns are taking to the air, reaching a rights deal with Gray Television that will put all of the games played by the Suns and the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association on free over-the-air broadcast television starting next season.
The deal is another sign that sports leagues and teams are looking at returning to broadcast as an alternative to regional sports networks, which have been losing subscribers on cable and satellite because of cord-cutting and can no longer pay big bucks for local sports rights.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
As part of the agreement, the NBA team’s games will also stream on a new direct-to-consumer app created by Kiswe, an interactive video technology company.
The Suns games last season appeared on Bally Sports Arizona. Bally’s parent, Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, declared bankruptcy with revenues shrinking and costs rising.
With baseball season underway, Diamond Sports has not paid all of the Major League Baseball teams whose games it televises. Major League Baseball has asked the bankruptcy court to return the rights to the teams if Diamond’s doesn’t pay up.
While RSNs struggle, broadcasters are pitching their ability to reach more viewers, creating more fans and selling more tickets and merchandise. The Suns were listening.
Also Read: Diamond Sports Says Suns Breached Contract With Gray Deal
“I’ve said from day one that our focus is our fans, our community, and every member of our organization and this deal checks every box,” Phoenix Suns and Phoenix said Mat Ishbia, who bought control of the Suns and Mercury in February. “By going entirely over the air and building our own DTC product, the Suns and Mercury will now be accessible to millions more fans in Arizona and globally. Success comes from new and innovative ways to invest in our players, continue our mission to build a world-class organization on and off the floor, and make our product available to as many people as possible.”
The Suns, a contender for the NBA title after acquiring star Kevin Durant, said moving to broadcast would offer increased reach for corporate partners and enhanced value for courtside signage because fans won’t have to subscribe to a pay TV package to watch games.
“We’re thrilled this partnership will connect our loyal family of viewers with the Phoenix Suns and Mercury,” Pat LaPlatney, president and co-CEO of Gray Television, said. “In a very short window, [Suns owner] Mat Ishbia has begun to build a world-class organization both on and off the court. And with today’s announcement, Mat has made good on his promise to focus on the community and put their fans first. We are very pleased to play a part in that effort with our stations in Phoenix, Tucson, and ultimately Yuma.”
With Gray, Suns and Mercury games will appear on KTVK Phoenix and the newly launched KPHE Phoenix. All non-national exclusive games will be broadcast on one of the two stations. KTVK will air 13 of the Mercury’s remaining regular-season games and all available postseason games. The rest of the Mercury’s regular-season games will appear on KPHE.
Next season, the Suns will have at least 40 regular season games on KTVK, with the remaining games airing on KPHE.
KPHE is part of Arizona’s Family Sports & Entertainment Network, which will be expanding into the Tucson and Yuma markets in the next few weeks.
Through those stations, the Suns and Mercury games will be available to 2.8 million households, tripling the teams’ reach and enabling fans who have been unable to watch via cable and satellite to tune in, Gray said.
Fans will also be able to watch games through a DTC streaming option being offered by Kiswe. Subscribers will be able to access the DTC streaming through a Suns or Mercury branded app on their smartphones or smart TVs. The 2023 Phoenix Mercury season will stream DTC for free.
“Cord-cutters, cable subscribers, fans with an antenna — everyone will be able to watch Suns and Mercury games on Arizona’s Family,” said Ishbia. “Coupling that with a partnership with an industry leader like Kiswe to provide an innovative digital streaming solution allows us to transform the way fans watch our games, giving them more options and access than they’ve ever had.”
“We are excited to be partnering with the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, and Gray Television on this groundbreaking new direct-to-fan distribution model,” said Glenn Booth, CEO of Kiswe. “Kiswe's goal is to bring live sports to all fans through immersive digital experiences, and we can't wait to start streaming games to any Arizona basketball fans who want to watch these iconic teams.”
Other broadcasters have been looking to pick up sports rights as RSNs falter.
Earlier this season, Nexstar Broadcast Group made a deal to broadcast 15 Los Angeles Clippers games on KTLA Los Angeles. The games also aired on Nexstar’s other California stations. Clippers games last aired on KTLA in 2009. The deal came while the Clippers were negotiating a renewal with Bally Sports SoCal. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said Nexstar was talking to at least two other NBA owners looking to carve out similar broadcast deals. ”You’ll see more of this as time goes on,” Sook said.
In December, E.W. Scripps Co. formed a sports division that would work with leagues, conferences and teams using its national networks, broadcast TV stations and connected TV channels as the RSN business failed. Earlier this month, Scripps announced a deal with the WNBA that creates a package of Friday night games airing on Scripps’ Ion network.
Regional sports networks used to be a good business, drawing big ratings and collecting large license fees from distributors. Sinclair borrowed about $9 billion to buy the Fox RSNs from The Walt Disney Co. Disney acquired the RSNs when it acquired 21st Century Fox, but had to sell them due to antitrust concerns because it owned ESPN.
Cord-cutting reduced revenue for the RSNs much faster than expected and Sinclair and its Diamond Sports unit found themselves in a financial crunch that led to a bankruptcy filing in March.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns four AT&T SportsNet RSNs, is also looking to get out of the business.
The first Phoenix Mercury game will air live on KTVK and be simulcast on KPHE May 25 when the Mercury take on the Minnesota Lynx.
Lee H. Berke, president & CEO of LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, advised Gray Television and Kiswe on the development of the Suns/Mercury agreement.
