The Arizona Coyotes and Scripps Sports have formed a multi-year agreement to televise all locally broadcast Coyotes games over the air to residents of Arizona and surrounding states within the team’s broadcast territory.
The agreement allows The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) to televise all non-nationally exclusive Coyotes games over the air (OTA). As per club policy, the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal has obtained the necessary approvals from the National Hockey League.
The Coyotes and Diamond Sports Net Arizona on Wednesday agreed to end the Coyotes telecast rights agreement. The debtors in the Diamond Sports Group, LLC bankruptcy submitted a motion and proposed order to reject the Coyotes telecast rights agreement to the bankruptcy court.
“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.”
This season, 81 of the 82 Coyotes games will be broadcast on Channel 15.2 (KNXV.2), the Antenna TV network, over the air (with an antenna). Antenna TV can also be found on channel 95 on COX.
Scripps owns KNXV 15, the Phoenix ABC affiliate, which will provide a strong marketing platform for Coyotes telecasts. One Coyotes game (Dec. 21 at San Jose) will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+.
“Scripps Sports looks forward to working with the Arizona Coyotes to showcase their exciting young team,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports. “We believe the future of this team is bright, and we look forward to making the games available for all fans to enjoy.”
“This is an innovative collaboration that will ensure that all our great fans can watch Coyotes hockey on television for free and allows us to better connect with our incredible fans and fans-in-waiting,” said Coyotes President & CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said the Coyotes and Scripps also are committed to providing fans with a direct-to-consumer streaming option, and details will be announced when plans are finalized.
The Coyotes are responsible for production of the games. Coyotes play-by-play announcer Matt McConnell, color analyst Tyson Nash and hosts Todd Walsh and Jody Jackson will be back for all Coyotes broadcasts.
Broadcasts will include pregame and postgame coverage for every game. Scripps stations also will broadcast all Coyotes games in Tucson (games will be on KGUN 9.2 – Cox channel 85 and Comcast channel 1179) and Salt Lake City (games will alternate between KUPX Utah 16 and KSTU 13.2 Antenna TV).
Scripps, the official broadcast partner of the team, and the Coyotes will co-produce a monthly 30-minute “Club Insider” program that showcases the team, its players and the organization on and off the ice. The show will air on KASW (Phoenix) and KWBA (Tucson).
The Coyotes open the 2023-24 NHL regular season on Friday, Oct. 13 in New Jersey against the Devils.
