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Arizona Coyotes Reach TV Deal With Scripps as Diamond Exits

anthony crupi and michael mccann
·3 min read
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With a week to go before the puck drops on the 2023-24 NHL season, Diamond Sports Group is out of its TV contract with the Arizona Coyotes. The team announced Thursday that it had a multiyear agreement with Scripps Sports to televise all locally broadcast games over the air within the team’s broadcast territory.

The Coyotes and Diamond Sports Net Arizona on Wednesday agreed to end the broadcast agreement, a team press release said.

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“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.”

Diamond, the beleaguered owner of the 19 Bally Sports RSNs, had petitioned the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas for permission to exit its deal with the NHL franchise. In a Wednesday court filing, Diamond attorneys stated that both parties have “mutually agreed on this course of action,” before adding, “the Coyotes have consented to the relief requested in this motion.”

The team’s first regular-season game is set for Friday, Oct. 13—a road opener against the New Jersey Devils that was scheduled to air on Bally Sports Arizona.

The request to ditch out of the contract was all but inevitable. The Coyotes were the last professional sports franchise affiliated with the Phoenix-area RSN, which saw the NBA’s Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury defect to Gray Television before cutting ties with MLB’s Diamondbacks in July.

In the court document, Diamond argued that the Phoenix RSN “is unprofitable and is projected to be increasingly unprofitable in subsequent years.” DSG went on to add that the current costs associated with operating the RSN “outweigh the revenues the debtors are able to obtain through broadcasting content.”

Diamond’s contracted rights fees to the Coyotes “total tens of millions of dollars annually and increase yearly,” the company said. Its first payment to the club was due the first of this month, with subsequent payouts about to come up on Nov. 1 and Dec. 1.

Shortly after Diamond ended its deal with the Diamondbacks, the Coyotes organization released a statement that indicated it would honor the terms of its legacy rights contract, while keeping one eye on the nearest exit. “We … remain hopeful that the network will continue to broadcast our games this season,” the Coyotes said. “Nonetheless, we will continue to evaluate all of our options, as needed, and will ensure that our great fans across the Valley are able to watch our games this fall.”

The winning option turned out to be Scripps.

“Scripps Sports looks forward to working with the Arizona Coyotes to showcase their exciting young team,” Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports, said in the press release. “We believe the future of this team is bright, and we look forward to making the games available for all fans to enjoy.”

While Diamond prepares to shutter the Phoenix RSN, it continues to work with mediators on a restructuring plan that might satisfy the demands of its creditors. The company filed for a second deadline extension last week, asking that it be granted another 60 days in which to complete its re-org plan. As of Thursday morning, an order granting the extension has not been filed.

(This article has been updated in the headline and throughout with news of the Coyotes agreement with Scripps.)

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