VICTORY+ brings free streaming service to Stars fans

Jason Walsh kind of nailed it.

The man who has spent more than two decades guiding Stars television in several different roles was named as Chief Operating Officer during last week’s unveiling of VICTORY+, a streaming network created in partnership between the Dallas Stars and “A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC)”, which will take the team from paid content on Bally Sports Southwest to a direct-to-consumer product that will be free.

And that is sort of revolutionary, Walsh said.

“This is where fans win,” Walsh said. “They had to put up with all of the BS and all of the distribution issues, and having to pay for this and that, and all of that is over now. Now, our goal is to give them what they want.”

That would indeed be wonderful. If you have been a fan of the Stars, you understand how frustrating the process has been. Bally Sports Southwest is a subscription service and that costs money. It also wasn’t available on every cable provider, so you might have had to restructure your account just to get on the right plan. There also was the fact that Bally Sports Southwest carried several local broadcasts, including the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers. That meant Stars fans were sometimes relegated to the second-tier Bally Extra which could be even more difficult to find.  The end result was the team lost fans because simply trying to watch a game became a chore.

Under VICTORY+, fans will be able to stream the content to their television, phone, or device, and get Stars games and content anywhere for free. The Stars and Diamond Sports Group came to an agreement to end their relationship with Bally Sports Southwest and the team last Monday announced the creation of VICTORY+.

“Obviously, the situation with the regional sports network has forced a lot of sports teams to research alternative options, and we feel very good about what we’re doing,” said Stars CEO and President Brad Alberts. “We think it’s going to be significant. People can now get the games for free. It’s not behind any type of paywall, so now it’s simple.”

Well, simple for the fans. To pull this off, the Stars need to take over the production of the games and additional content, as well as find a way to monetize the broadcasts to make up for rights fees that Bally was paying.

“It’s a challenge,” said Alberts. “How can we serve a broadcast to our fans, and reach as many fans as possible, and still protect the quality of the broadcast and economics of television so we can run the team the way we need to? It’s been our job to find those solutions.”

This is where APMC came in with their proprietary ad serving technology that really sold the Stars on the ability to monetize the broadcasts without having to charge their fans a monthly subscription. They had proven it with Dude Perfect and other children’s programming and were ready to take the next step into live sports.  The timing in forming the partnership to develop VICTORY+ was perfect.

Alberts said the process will take time, and asks fans to be patient.

“You’ve got to look at this over two full seasons,” Alberts said. “We have to go through next season and we’re going to learn a lot. And then we’re going to react to what we find. We’re going to talk to the fans, we’re going to ask for feedback, we have to go through this together and get better at it. I think after two full years of that, we’ll have a really good understanding of how this model performs.”

Introducing Walsh to APMC to lead the broadcast production was key.

The 49-year-old executive got his start with the Stars and eventually was picked up by Fox Sports Southwest to be their next Executive Producer. When the team went through rebranding in 2013 under new owner Tom Gaglardi, Walsh was part of the team that developed the Victory Green color scheme and new logo design.

“You take the knowledge you gained from an experience like that,” Walsh said. “It was about bringing a lot of ideas together and trying to keep everybody on the same page. And then coming out at the end with a product that people really seemed to like. You can’t please everybody, and this is the same kind of process, except we’re doing it digitally.”

While nothing has been officially announced, the expectation is the team will lean heavily on the talent and production crew that has won several Lone Star Emmys for its broadcast work and then will adjust as needed.

“We’re going 'core out' with our thinking,” Walsh said. “The core is the game. We have to give the fans the quality of broadcast that they have become used to. We have to be at that level, and we know we can get there pretty quick. Step two is how do we rethink what the broadcast day should look like, so we’re having active discussions about re-engineering our presentation. We will have live content shouldering the game that will be different than what people are used to seeing.”

Walsh said the streaming format allows for endless ideas. Could they have additional broadcasts that offer different perspectives, such as a more casual conversation format that is on a different channel? Could they have a traditional broadcast along with one that might use the technology that highlights players or puck location and offers stat presentation during play? Could they come up with something completely different?

“We’re building from scratch, and that’s very exciting,” Walsh said. “It’s fun.”

The streaming network will be downloadable for free anywhere in the world across a multitude of devices, but the live game broadcasts will remain limited to the current four-state area – Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas – as it remains under the restrictions of the NHL broadcast territory agreements for each region. The only games that won’t be available on VICTORY+ will be those Stars games selected for national broadcasts on either ESPN or TNT.

It’s a good day for the fans.

At a time when the team is performing well, the chance to get that product in front of more people is positive for a lot of reasons.

“The world is changing, so we need to change,” Alberts said. “The cord cutting was significant, and a large part of our audience doesn’t even use cable anymore, so this allows us to attract as many viewers as possible. It’s up to us to make it work, but I really think we have a good plan.”

Additional information and a list of frequently asked questions can be found here. 

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.