The Panthers made a “significant move on the South Florida broadcast landscape” with the decision to move their games off Bally Sports Florida to Scripps Sports -- a move that was “initiated by the Panthers,” according to Barry Jackson of the MIAMI HERALD. Jackson noted the Panthers “framed it as a mutual decision because it required Bally to authorize the dissolution of their multiyear contract.” The Panthers “declined to say if they paid Bally to break the contract.” This marks the “first time in two decades that one of South Florida’s NBA, MLB or NHL teams” will air on an over-the-air TV station. Scripps -- not Bally or the Panthers -- will produce the games. The Panthers also “will make their games available on an app; details and pricing haven’t been finalized” (MIAMI HERALD, 7/2).
PERFECT TIMING: The AP’s Tim Reynolds noted the move “comes at perhaps the perfect time for the Panthers.” Interest in the team “likely has never been even close to this high.” The Panthers had been working on options for the past several months, and the move in May by Comcast to black out 15 RSNs “offered by Bally Sports made it seem even more obvious that a change likely was coming soon.” Many of the plans for how the Panthers broadcasts will look, such as graphic elements, “are still being finalized.” The team “intends to keep its broadcast team intact,” an important piece for the Panthers because some of those personalities have been with the club for most, if not all, of the franchise’s 30-year existence. There are also plans, at some point, to “add a Spanish-language broadcast option" for games, which would "open even more doors in South Florida given the enormous Latino population” (AP, 7/2).
