Another National Hockey League franchise has also secured local broadcast rights: The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers signed a multi-year deal with Scripps Sports to broadcast games free of charge to residents of Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers.
The new agreement gives EW Scripps Company new hockey television rights to the Florida Panthers with the authority to distribute on cable, satellite and terrestrial television and air all of the Panthers’ locally produced preseason, regular season and first round postseason games. Specifically, all locally produced games will air on WSFL-TV/Channel 39 in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, WHDT-TV/Channel 9 in West Palm Beach and a to-be-announced channel in Fort Myers.
“After appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals for two consecutive years and celebrating 30 years of Panthers hockey in South Florida, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of our hockey team. Scripps’ distribution network and accessibility make it the ideal partner to stream and deliver Panthers content on and off the ice,” said P.Answers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell“Panthers content will be free to air and we are excited that this initiative will reach new audiences. 
To grow our great sport.”
Scripps Sports and the Panthers will work together to launch a team-branded direct-to-consumer application, with details to be announced prior to the 2024-2025 season. The direct-to-consumer application will be the destination for live streaming of all games produced by Scripps Sports throughout the team’s territory in South Florida. More details will be announced at a later date.
Scripps Sports, home of the past two Stanley Cup champions, will produce pre-game, in-game and post-game programming. Scripps Sports and the Panthers will partner to co-produce weekly Panthers programming showcasing the team, players and organization off the ice.
“The Florida Panthers are the best team in the NHL and their fans deserve access to every one of their games on every broadcast platform, including free over-the-air.” Brian Lawler, President, Scripps Sports“When the Stanley Cup champions take to the ice in October, Scripps Sports is proud to use our powerful terrestrial television network to bring all of the locally broadcast games to Panthers fans in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers.”
