Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers games to be broadcast for free on West Palm Beach TV next season

Florida Panthers fans in South Florida no longer have to worry about which cable television networks will air their favorite professional hockey team’s games — and which won’t.

The Stanley Cup champions have signed a multi-year agreement with Scripps Sports to broadcast Panthers hockey locally for free to residents of West Palm Beach, Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers.

Panthers games have been broadcast by Bally Sports Florida. However, Bally’s parent company, Diamond Sports, has been involved in bankruptcy proceedings that led to Comcast pulling the Bally networks off the air in May, impacting the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The remainder of the playoffs were broadcast by ABC or ESPN.

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This is the new television lineup for Panthers games:

• In Miami/Fort Lauderdale, all locally produced games are broadcast on WSFL-TV, channel 39.

• In Fort Myers, Scripps Sports will announce the broadcast channel for next season.

Meanwhile, the National Hockey League announced its 2024-25 schedule on Tuesday. The Panthers open at home against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. ET. They then head out on a four-game road trip to Ottawa, Buffalo, Boston and Columbus from Oct. 10-15.

Under the new broadcast agreement, Scripps will be able to air all locally televised Panthers preseason, regular season and first-round Stanley Cup Playoff games with distribution via cable, satellite and over-the-air television. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal has been approved by the NHL.

“After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances 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 them the ideal partner to stream and distribute Panthers content on and off the ice,” said Panthers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell. “Panthers content will be available free over-the-air and we’re excited about the new homes it will reach as we continue to grow our great sport.”

More: Stanley Cup Game 7 hero Sam Reinhart signs $69M, 8-year contract extension with Florida Panthers

Scripps Sports and the Panthers will also launch a team-branded direct-to-consumer application with details to be announced prior to the 2024-25 season. This direct-to-consumer app will feature live streaming of all Scripps Sports-produced games throughout the team’s South Florida territory.

Scripps Sports will be responsible for producing the pregame, in-game and postgame shows. Scripps Sports and the Panthers will work together to produce a weekly Panthers program that showcases the team, players and organization off the ice.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers games to be broadcast for free on South Florida TV stations