The Dallas Stars are leaving Victory+ for Amazon’s Prime Video, with games produced directly by the NHL under its centralized solution, according to a report by Alex Silverman of Sports Business Journal.
The Stars would mark the second NHL team to leave Victory+, following a reported move by the Anaheim Ducks to terminate its contract with the streamer. The Stars were the first team to partner with Victory+, owned by A Parent Media Co., and unlike the Ducks or MLB’s Texas Rangers had all of their games broadcast exclusively on the service. Victory+ has reportedly been missing payments to rights partners and, earlier this year, removed Neil Gruninger from his role as CEO.
The platform lost the Texas Rangers in the midst of the MLB season to BZZR, while the NWSL opted to remove its Sunday night matches from the service, which were recently added to the Roku Sports Channel. News of Stars regional broadcasts streaming through Prime Video was first reported by Sam Nestler of DLLS.
Earlier in the summer, the NHL announced plans for centralized production of select local broadcasts, which currently includes franchises such as the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues. These four teams could end up using Prime Video as its local streaming partner, per Silverman, although no deal has been announced. The NHL declined comment on the matter.
The Seattle Kraken have utilized Prime Video for the local streaming of games for the last two seasons, pairing the service with linear distribution through the Kraken Hockey Network. It remains unknown if the Stars would enter into a similar arrangement, although the team did have some games available via over-the-air distribution last season under a partnership with Gray Media.
The Hurricanes have already announced the launch of a sports network, adding that games will be available through cable and satellite services in addition to streaming. The Wild are similarly unveiling a multimedia network that will also have over-the-air distribution in addition to the aforementioned platforms.
The Blues characterized its forthcoming product as a “multimedia platform to be announced at a later date” in a press release last month. The Blue Jackets revealed that it would simulcast its television broadcast on 97.1 The Fan, eliminating a designated radio feed featuring play-by-play voice Bob McElligott. None of the teams have announced plans for streaming distribution at the moment.
The Nashville Predators moved their local broadcasts to over-the-air affiliates under an agreement with Scripps Sports, while the Detroit Red Wings will be televised on Detroit SportsNet, owned by Ilitch Sports & Entertainment. Los Angeles Kings games are remaining on the same RSN that carried them last year, but “FanDuel Sports Network West” was acquired by the MLB Angels and subsequently renamed “Angels Broadcast Television.”
Several NHL teams are finding new modes of distribution amid Main Street Sports Group preparing to wind down operations following last season. The RSN company, which had ownership of the FanDuel-branded regional networks, ended its run broadcasting NHL games with the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
