Trail Blazers, Panthers, Blues, Utah Hockey Club Finalize Over-the-Air and Streaming Plans
Several NBA and NHL clubs are announcing their broadcast/streaming plans for the 2024-25 season after leaving RSNs behind.
The trickle of teams departing regional sports networks (RSNs) is fast becoming a deluge. Six NBA teams will offer their in-market games over-the-air (OTA) this season, and one of the latest to make the decision to leave its former RSN behind announced its plan for 2024-25 late Monday evening. The Portland Trail Blazers are officially departing Root Sports Northwest this season, in favor of a new, OTA channel named “Rip City Television Network.” Several NHL clubs announced new streaming plans for the season as well this week, giving fans multiple ways to access their favorite team without needing a cable subscription.
Key Details:
- Rip City Television Network will be available around the state of Oregon, as well as in Seattle.
- The Blazers will also get an in-market streaming option called BlazerVision.
- The Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, and Utah Hockey Club all have new streaming services available for in-market fans.
The Trail Blazers will play all games not appearing on national channels like ESPN and TNT on Rip City Television Network in the 2024-25 season. The channel will be distributed on Sinclair-owned channels and affiliates throughout the Pacific Northwest; in Portland, the channel will be available on the ABC affiliate KATU 2.2, Univision’s KUNP, and Comcast channels 302 and 1170.
The Rip City Television Network will quadruple the reach of the team, extending to markets such as Eugene, Medford, and even Seattle. The Trail Blazers will also offer fans a new streaming service called BlazerVision, which will allow them to stream live games and other programming for $19.99 per month or $120 for the season.
“Launching the Rip City Television Network and BlazerVision is a turning point for our fans,” Trail Blazers president of business operations Dewayne Hankins said. “We’ve put our fans first and started a new chapter, making it easier than ever to enjoy Trail Blazers basketball. Whether on TV or streaming with BlazerVision, we believe this is the best way to create lifelong fans and keep them connected. This is a big win for all of Rip City.”
Hankins told Sports Business Journal that he sees the new OTA network also aggregates content from the Blazers’ G-League affiliate Rip City Remix, as well as the oncoming WNBA expansion team the city has been awarded. Documentaries, podcasts, and other types of content could be born of the new channel as well.
“The name of the network’s exciting because there’s no shortage of things that our fans are wanting to see and hear from us,” Hankins said. “So to have a platform and a megaphone as great as this one to share those stories is really intriguing for us. This is just kind of taking it to a whole new level, and we’re excited that Sinclair wanted to do this.”
Utah Hockey Club Announces Streaming Options
The Utah Hockey Club, the newest NHL expansion team that will play under that name for the 2024-25 season, is also helping fans to ensure they can watch games as easily as possible. The UHC will play games on the OTA channel KUPX-TV and this week announced the launch of a new streaming service in time for the start of the regular season called UtahHC+.
UtahHC+ costs $69.99 for the season, or $14.99 per month. There’s also a pay-per-view option for single games, which starts at $5 per game. Former NHL player Tyson Nash will become one of the key on-air personalities for the service, offering alt casts and more throughout the season. Fans who sign up for the annual plan will get two single-goal view tickets to a UHC game during the regular season.
The new UtahHC+ service is also available in a bundle with Jazz+, the in-market service for streaming Utah Jazz games. That bundle is called SEG+ and is only available on a per-season basis for $174.99. It will carry more than 150 Jazz and UHC games in total, plus two tickets to a live game from one of the two teams. UHC+ and SEG+ come courtesy of Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which partnered with the UHC to create the streaming options.
“There has never been a more exciting time to be a sports fan in Utah, and we are committed to making sure our fanbase can easily engage in every minute of the action coming this season with Utah Hockey Club and the Utah Jazz - however they want to watch,” said Caroline Klein, chief communications officer for SEG. “We gained valuable insight into our fans’ streaming preferences last season and look forward to creating even more memories with them through the front-row access and intuitive experiences that SEG+, UtahHC+, and Jazz+ provide.”
Florida Panthers Pounce on Streaming Opportunity
The reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers have also announced a move to broadcast channels this season, after leaving Bally Sports Florida behind. The Panthers will play on Scripps-owned channels in Fort Myers, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach starting in 2024-25.
Scripps announced as part of its deal to air Panthers games that it would partner with the team to create an in-market streaming service. On Tuesday, the team announced that the service would be dubbed “Panthers Plus,” which will offer free access to the Cats’ preseason match-ups on Sept. 27 at the Carolina Hurricanes, Sept. 28 vs Carolina, Sept. 30 vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning and Oct. 2 at Tampa Bay.
There appears to be just one subscription option for Panthers Plus: a Season Pass for $69.99. The streamer will be available on web browser, iOS, Android, AppleTV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV devices now, with LG TV and Samsung TV support expected to be announced soon.
“For about a $1 a game, this streaming service is another great option for our fans to use as part of their regular tune-in routine,” said Panthers Chief Strategy Officer Mark Zarthar. “In addition to live games, our passionate viewers will have the chance to watch the weekly Panthers Primetime show and to view Panthers content daily.”
No Longer Singing the Blues
The St. Louis Blues have not left Bally Sports Midwest yet, and will still play their regular season games on that channel for in-market customers this season. Blues games will also air on the Bally Sports+ streaming service for the duration of the regular season.
But before the season begins, the Blues will dip their toe in the water of streaming to see if their post-Bally future should include a free streaming option. Two more St. Louis preseason games will be available to stream on Victory+ this year, a service which was first created to offer Dallas Stars games to in-market fans of that team at no charge. Free Blues preseason streams on Victory+ began on Saturday, Sept. 21.
The free Blues games on Victory+ that have not already passed include a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday and one against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.