The Arizona Coyotes have agreed a new multi-year broadcast deal with Scripps Sports. This deal was announced along with confirmation that the existing agreement between the Coyotes and Diamond Sports Group had come to an end.
On Wednesday, Diamond Sports Group submitted a motion to the bankruptcy court to reject its existing Coyotes telecast rights agreement. That proposal was approved, bringing an end to the multi-year contract.
Now, and similar to the recent Vegas Golden Knights deal, Scripps Sports will televise all locally broadcast Coyotes games over the air to residents of Arizona and surrounding states within the team’s broadcast territory. According to the details, 81 Coyotes games this season will be broadcast on Channel 15.2 (KNXV.2), the Antenna TV network.
The first Coyotes 2023-24 NHL regular season game is due to take place on Friday, Oct. 13 in New Jersey against the Devils.
“We are thrilled to partner with Scripps Sports and provide free Coyotes games to our fans,” said Coyotes Owner, Chairman & Governor Alex Meruelo. “This is a major win for us to be able to increase our reach and continue to grow the great game of hockey in the desert. We are committed to winning, committed to the Valley, and committed to doing what’s best for our incredibly loyal and passionate fanbase.”
In addition to confirming the new local broadcast rights, Coyotes and Scripps also confirmed that they are planning to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option. However, no additional details on this streaming product were provided, due to the details having yet to be finalized.
This is just the latest Diamond Sports and Bally Sports change to come out of Arizona recently. Back in July, for example, the MLB took back control of Arizona Diamondbacks games, while the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury agreed a new distribution deal with Gray Television.
Following these changes, and as part of Diamond Sports Group’s proposed order to end its agreement with the Coyotes, the Bally Sports Arizona channel has now officially come to an end.
