Bally Sports will no longer air Panthers games, and the team is moving local broadcasts off of cable entirely
Bally Sports will no longer air Panthers games, and the team is moving local broadcasts off of cable entirely
Local broadcasts of Florida Panthers games are going to more accessible starting next season.
That’s because the Panthers will no longer air on the Bally Sports cable network.
Starting in the 2024-25 season, the Cats will begin a multi-year partnership with Scripps Sports to locally air Panthers regular season games and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for free.
Residents in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties will be able to watch all locally produced games on WSFL-TV, channel 39.
West Palm Beach residents will find locally produced games on WHDT-TV, channel 9.
Scripps will also offer free local coverage to residents in Fort Myers, and a broadcast channel will be announced between now and the start of the season.
Additionally, Scripps and the Panthers are working to create an app so that games will be available for live streaming within the broadcast territory in South Florida.
“After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and celebrating 30 years of Panthers Hockey in South Florida, we could not be more excited about the future of our hockey team,” Panthers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell said in a statement released by the team. “Scripps’ distribution network and accessibility makes them the ideal partner to stream and carry Panthers content on and off the ice. Panthers content will be available for free over the air and we are thrilled about the new homes this will reach as we continue to grow our great sport.”
People who live outside of the South Florida market should still be able to watch Panthers hockey streamed on ESPN+.
In terms of the broadcast talent, it sounds like the Panthers are planning to roll with the same excellent group that has been entertaining fans for the past several seasons.
That includes play-by-play voice Steve Goldstein, who provided the following statement to The Hockey News:
“I’m excited about the new partnership with Scripps and know they will be a great new partner, as Ballys was for many years. The Panthers have stated they hope to keep the entire broadcast team intact, and that sounds great to me as I enter my 28th year with the organization.”
Expect more information regarding the changes to come out as the season draws closer.
It’s a great time to be a Panthers fan following the team’s first Stanley Cup win this year, and now fans will have more access to see Cats games than ever before.
With an eye to the future, a moment was taken by Caldwell to acknowledge the past.
“We would like to take a moment to thank and acknowledge the commitment from Bally Sports Florida since the inception of our franchise,” said Caldwell. “We look forward to an unprecedented amount of support and attention on hockey in Florida as we move forward.”
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