The NHL reaches a multiyear carriage agreement with Charter; the Detroit Pistons ink a streaming deal with DAZN; and the UFL is preparing to expand to 10 teams in 2028. Plus news on Chris Spatola, Paramount-WBD, Roku Channel and ESPN.
NHL reaches multiyear carriage agreement with Charter
The National Hockey League has reached a multiyear carriage agreement with Charter-owned Spectrum to provide linear television distribution for four of its centrally-produced teams, the Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Wild and Blues. Each team will also have an over-the-air presence, and all games available to stream exclusively through Prime Video. The league continues to have discussions with other potential distributors as the new season approaches starting next Tuesday.
“We continue to be in conversations with everybody that you’d expect us to be in conversations,” David Proper, NHL EVP/media and international strategy, told Sports Media Watch on Wednesday. “Obviously, they’re at differing levels depending on the circumstances, but ultimately, we want to have carriage everywhere. We’re basically offering the same deals across the board, and Charter was comfortable with it, and hopefully everybody else will get comfortable with it.”
In addition to the aforementioned four teams, the NHL is also producing broadcasts for the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars this year, both of whom formerly aired games on Victory+. Those games will remain fully exclusive to Prime Video, requiring a paid Amazon Prime membership to access. The other four teams can be viewed using a standalone subscription for $20/month or $100/year with a free Amazon account. Proper called the Prime Video deal “critical” to complement what the league is doing with linear distribution and said that there was interest from other companies aside from Amazon, such as BZZR and ESPN, in creating “something more robust” instead of DTC for individual teams.
Proper emphasized that NHL teams are looking for “stability and to know what’s going to happen” in this space, leading the league to take control and try to provide more certainty. When asked if the league could add more teams in the event it became necessary, Proper said the league “would figure it out.” The initial plan was to have three teams this year, but the situation changed to double that total to six, which he believes will remain the number of teams involved this season barring an unforeseen circumstance.
Pistons ink streaming deal with DAZN
DAZN has acquired local in-market streaming rights to the NBA Pistons, it was announced Tuesday, marking the 11th NBA team to join the streaming service this offseason. Pistons games on DAZN will be priced at $20/month and $120/year. The Pistons previously struck a linear distribution deal with Scripps-owned WMYD TV20 under a partnership with Scripps Sports. Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported that the team will receive a minimum guarantee from DAZN “in the $1M-to-$2M range annually.”
The Pistons are among three NBA teams who have struck separate deals with DAZN and linear television platforms this offseason, along with the Magic and Hornets. Five others — the Cavaliers, Spurs, Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Pacers — have awarded their local rights exclusively to DAZN. Friend reported that those teams are receiving rights fees in the range of $8 million to $20 million.
The remaining DAZN teams this season have joined the streamer as part of broader deals struck by the RSNs who carry their games. MSG Networks (Knicks), Monumental Sports Network (Wizards) and YES Network (Nets) have each struck deals to distribute their broadcasts through DAZN.
A handful of NBA teams have yet to announce their streaming distribution plans for the upcoming season, which begins in less than a month. The Bucks and Hawks struck local over-the-air linear distribution deals with Rincon Broadcasting Group and Gray Media respectively, but have not yet announced streaming plans. The LA Clippers have not announced any of their local broadcasting plans for next season, but Friend reported that games will be distributed on KTLA-5 with streaming on ClipperVision.
UFL adding teams in four new markets as league expands to 10 teams
The United Football League is adding four new markets over the next two years as part of a process that will see the league expand to ten teams, it was announced Wednesday. This coming season, the league is leaving its longtime markets Birmingham (Ala.) and Houston and replacing them with Pawtucket (R.I.) and Colorado Springs. The following season, it will add its ninth and tenth teams, with one in Utah and the other in Oklahoma City.
The home opener for the Rhode Island franchise is scheduled to air in primetime on FOX April 2, and Colorado’s inaugural home matchup is set to air on ABC April 11 opposite the final round of The Masters. The UFL season will begin on March 26.
“There is a real energy around this league right now, and we’re thrilled to bring that energy to four new markets,” . “We said in July that our next step was finding the right markets, venues, and fan bases where we can work with local leaders to build the strongest franchises for today and for the future, and we believe Colorado, Rhode Island, Oklahoma and Utah represent those qualities,” UFL co-owner Mike Repole said in a statement.
All of the teams will play in soccer venues, which traditionally have less capacity than football stadiums. The UFL added three teams across Columbus (Ohio), Louisville and Orlando for its third season last year, replacing teams that had played in Detroit, Memphis, and San Antonio. Repole said that the spring football league intends to expand to 16 markets by 2034, per a report by Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
Plus: Chris Spatola, Paramount-WBD, Roku Channel, ESPN
- ESPN college basketball analyst Chris Spatola passed away unexpectedly Monday, the network announced. He was 47. An Army veteran and the son-in-law of former Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Spatola had been working for ESPN since 2015. He also called some college games for TNT Sports and also worked as an analyst on SiriusXM, where he co-hosted a show alongside Krzyzewski.
- The judge overseeing the 12-state lawsuit seeking to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has scheduled a hearing Thursday to review the settlement agreed to in the case. Paramount reportedly hopes to close the deal in approximately two weeks, which would bring the TNT Sports division under common ownership with CBS Sports.
- Matthew Berry is going to host a new daily show on The Roku Channel, moving into the early afternoon timeslot previously occupied by Rich Eisen. The program, titled “Pregame with Matthew Berry,” is slated to launch next Monday, and will be produced by Berry’s Fantasy Life company. Berry previously appeared on “Football Night in America” for NBC Sports as its fantasy expert, but the show altered its cast and moved fully on the road starting this season.
- ESPN “Pardon the Interruption” co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are being honored as the recipients of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism at a ceremony next February, Arizona State University revealed on Tuesday. Kornheiser and Wilbon, who first started working together at “The Washington Post” and have co-hosted “PTI” for the last 25 years, expressed their gratitude at the honor in statements. Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Dean Battino L. Batts Jr. added in a statement that Kornheiser and Wilbon are “the standard bearers when it comes to debating and analyzing sports.”
