The Florida Panthers are the latest team ditching its RSN for an over-the-air broadcast channel. Plus: ESPN announces NHL opening night schedule; SportsCenter anchor Gary Striewski re-signs with ESPN.
Panthers leave Bally for local affiliate
The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are set to leave Bally Sports Florida this fall, opting to air games on a local Scripps affiliate instead, per a report in the Miami Herald on Tuesday. The Panthers join the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey club as NHL franchises that have ditched RSNs for over-the-air broadcast.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, including whether the Panthers paid to get out of its current contract with Bally Sports Florida. Bally parent company Diamond Sports continues legal proceedings in bankruptcy court, while negotiations with Comcast (the company’s third largest distributor) remain at an impasse, leaving many fans of teams inked to Bally RSNs in the dark.
Scripps will produce the game broadcasts under the new deal. Panthers’ Chief Strategy Officer Mark Zarthar told the Herald that he expects on-air talent, including announcers Steve Goldstein and Randy Moller, to carry over into the Scripps production, pending their employment status with Bally.
In addition to broadcasting games over-the-air, Scripps plans to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming option for fans, something the company also launched for the Golden Knights after its move to over-the-air. (Miami Herald, 7.2)
NHL opening night schedule revealed
ESPN revealed its schedule for the NHL’s opening night this fall in a press release on Tuesday. The season will start with a triple-header on Tuesday, October 8th featuring several of the league’s high-profile stars.
Headlining opening night are the defending champion Florida Panthers and Matthew Tkachuk against the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak at 7PM ET. That game will lead into the debut game for Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City against Connor Bedard‘s Chicago Blackhawks at 10PM ET. Earlier in the day, the season will get started with Blues-Kraken at 4:30PM ET. (ESPN, 7.2)
View the full 2024-25 NHL schedule here.
Gary Striewski inks extension with ESPN
Gary Striewski has signed a multi-year extension with ESPN, the network announced Tuesday. Striewski will continue hosting the 7AM ET SportsCenter with Randy Scott, as well as various other duties for the network.
Before joining ESPN in 2018, Striewski was a sideline reporter at NESN covering the Red Sox. He began his ESPN tenure hosting SportsCenter on Snapchat and has since became a staple on other ESPN digital offerings including The Elle Duncan Show, The Kickoff, and Hoop Streams. Striewski began hosting the televised version of SportsCenter in 2022. (ESPN, 7.2)
