 | |
| Launched | December 15, 2022; 18 months ago (2022-12-15) |
|---|---|
| Division of | E. W. Scripps Company |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Major broadcasting contracts |
|
| Official website | scrippssports |
Scripps Sports is the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company; it is responsible for the broadcasting of sporting events across its broadcast television portfolio, including local stations and co-owned networks (such as Ion Television).
Prior to the formation of Scripps Sports, in May 2022, The E.W. Scripps Company reached an agreement with the Big Sky Conference to air 14 conference football games and as many as eight women's or men's basketball games involving Montana State University and University of Montana on the Scripps owned Montana Television Network.[1]
The formation of Scripps Sports was announced in December 2022. Company president Adam P. Symson stated that the division planned to compete with regional sports networks to pursue local rights to professional sports teams for its stations, and pursue national broadcasting contracts for its Ion Media division (including Ion Television). He argued that the pay television RSN industry was an "old model" that is "not set up to move forward", and that "we are really well-situated to participate in future models with sports teams, leagues, and conferences."[2]
In April 2023, Scripps Sports announced its first broadcast contract, a regular season package of Friday-night WNBA basketball games for Ion.[3][4]
The following month, with AT&T SportsNet winding down, Scripps Sports reached an agreement for regional rights to the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. The games would be syndicated to stations within the team's designated market (with KMCC as flagship; the station moved Ion to a digital subchannel and became an independent station), and offered via the subscription-based over-the-top service KnightTime+.[5][6][7] In October 2023, it also reached an agreement with the Arizona Coyotes, after Bally Sports Arizona rejected its contract with the team[8] and subsequently shut down not long afterward.[9] After initially airing on the Antenna TV-affiliated KNXV-DT2,[8] KASW moved its The CW affiliation to that channel and similarly converted to an independent station to accommodate Coyotes games.[10][11]
On November 9, 2023, the National Women's Soccer League announced Scripps Sports as a rightsholder beginning in the 2024 season, with Ion to air Saturday night doubleheaders. Ion will also air the 2024 NWSL Draft.[12][13]
In April 2024, the NHL deactivated the Coyotes franchise and their players and personnel were transferred to a new team in Utah. Scripps' KUPX-TV in Salt Lake City, which had been televising Coyotes and Golden Knights games, will become the Utah team's new flagship station.[14]
| Team | League | Flagship station | Affiliates | OTT subscription outlet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana and Montana State (2022–present) (Football, Men's Basketball and Women's Basketball) |
Big Sky Conference | Montana Television Network[1] | ESPN+ (both in-market and out-of-market)[1] | |
| Utah Hockey Club (2024–present)[15] | NHL | KUPX-TV/Provo, Utah |
|
|
| Vegas Golden Knights (2023–present) | NHL | KMCC/Laughlin, Nevada[16] |
|
| Team | League | Flagship station | Affiliates | OTT subscription outlet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Coyotes (2023–2024; with a future chance for the team's reactivation by 2029) | NHL | KASW/Phoenix, Arizona |
|
Scripps stations in markets with Big Sky schools will broadcast football games and men's and women's basketball games ... The Big Sky Conference will retain rights to digitally distribute and stream programming via the ESPN+ app both within and outside the league's footprint, and these broadcasts on Scripps will not be subject to any blackout restrictions.
