SUNRISE, Fla, and CINCINNATI, Ohio. – The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have signed a multi-year agreement with Scripps Sports to locally broadcast Panthers hockey free for residents of Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers.
Specifically:
- In Miami/Fort Lauderdale, all locally produced games will air on WSFL-TV, channel 39.
- In West Palm Beach, all locally produced games will air on WHDT-TV, channel 9.
- In Fort Myers, Scripps Sports will announce the broadcast channel in advance of next season.
Under this new agreement, The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) has the ability to televise all locally broadcast Panthers preseason, regular-season and round one games of the postseason with distribution on cable, satellite and over-the-air television, becoming the new home on television of Florida Panthers hockey. Financial terms will not be disclosed. The deal has obtained the necessary approvals from the National Hockey League.
“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. Scripps’ distribution network and accessibility makes them the ideal partner to stream and carry Panthers content on and off the ice,” said Panthers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell. “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.”
Scripps Sports and the Panthers will collaborate to launch a team-branded direct-to-consumer application with details to be announced prior to the 2024-2025 season. This direct-to-consumer application will be the destination for live streaming of all Scripps Sports-produced games throughout the team’s territory in South Florida. Additional details will follow.
Scripps Sports, which is now home to the last two Stanley Cup champions, will be responsible for the production of the pregame, in-game and postgame shows. Scripps Sports and the Panthers will partner to co-produce a weekly Panthers program that showcases the team, its players and the organization beyond the ice.
“The Florida Panthers are the best team in the NHL, and their fans deserve to be able to see all of their games on every available broadcast platform, including free over-the-air,” said Brian Lawlor, Scripps Sports president. “When the Stanley Cup champions take the ice in October, Scripps Sports will be proud to bring all locally broadcast games to all the Panthers fans in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers using our powerful over-the-air TV stations.”
“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.”
Full information regarding on-air talent and programming on Scripps will follow in the coming weeks.
About the Panthers
The National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers entered the league in 1993. In June of 2024, the team captured it’s first Stanley Cup at home, winning seven of it’s eight playoff series in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. The Panthers won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-22, earning the most points during the regular season. Under General Manager Bill Zito, the Panthers have grown into a tenacious, dynamic, and exciting team led by Captain Aleksander Barkov, forward Matthew Tkachuk, stalwart defenseman Aaron Ekblad, two-time Vezina Trophy recipient Sergei Bobrovsky and a deep roster of proven and promising NHL talent. At home at Amerant Bank Arena, the Panthers welcome fans from the tri-county area, the South Florida region and beyond.
About Scripps Sports
Scripps Sports serves professional and college sports leagues, conferences and teams with local market depth and national broadcast reach of up to 100% of TV households. Scripps Sports currently has partnerships with the Women’s National Basketball Association, the National Women’s Soccer League, the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights and NHL’s new Utah Hockey Team, and the NCAA’s Big Sky Conference.. Scripps Sports is a division of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), a Fortune 1000 American media company focused on creating a better-informed world.
