Teams with Bally Sports-branded channels for their regional sports network provider are nearing some certainty. The brand’s parent organization, Diamond Sports, has agreed in principle to a deal with Amazon, Sinclair Broadcasting Group and other debt holders to finance a restructuring of the company as it continues in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they announced today (via Sportico’s Brendan Coffey). The restructuring includes the streaming rights to Bally Sports channels being transferred to Amazon Prime Video, although details of the move are scarce. Preliminary information implies that this will not affect the games’ national out-of-market availability on ESPN+ in the United States but rather provide a paid streaming option for those within their team’s TV market who do not receive their Bally Sports channel on linear TV. Affected teams include the Blue Jackets, Blues, Ducks, Hurricanes, Kings, Lightning, Panthers, Predators, Red Wings, Stars, and Wild, although all their broadcasting rights are set to revert back to the NHL at the end of 2023-24.
In other afternoon notes:
- Devils winger Timo Meier is on the ice with the team for morning skate and is likely to return tonight against the Canadiens, team reporter Amanda Stein relays. Meier had missed six games with an abdominal injury and will be activated off IR in the next few hours. The 27-year-old has missed 13 combined games due to injury in his first full season in the Garden State, putting up a rather pedestrian 9-6–15 stat line in 28 games when healthy, along with a team-worst -16 rating. He is an important returning piece for a Devils team that’s also without Jack Hughes and Ondřej Palát on offense, though, as they try, and grab hold of a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. With the move to activate Meier, the Devils have also assigned forward Shane Bowers to their AHL affiliate the Utica Comets.
- Florida Panthers play-by-play broadcaster Doug Plagens tweeted that Panthers center Aleksander Barkov will not dress tonight when the team takes on the Detroit Red Wings. The 28-year-old missed the final few minutes of Florida’s overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday and is said to be dealing with a lower-body injury that head coach Paul Maurice called short-term. Barkov is having another terrific season at both ends of the ice with 11 goals and 35 assists in 40 games, to go along with solid work in the defensive zone.
Not really sure meier has been ‘healthy’ all season. Either battling injury or injured. Hopefully he is back to fitness this time around.
Oh great, now Amazon has your hockey games too. Pay up or else!
Check out wwwdotonhockeydottv and you won’t have to worry about Amazon or any other outlet doing hockey.
Yeah, think I’ll pass on that.
Why? Games from leagues all over the planet. Multiple feeds on many of them. Works great.
@Gbear — Amazon Prime has a few NHL documentaries, but you are correct regarding the subscription fee for seeing live games. Personally, I will occasionally watch part of a documentary, then when it’s done, switch over to Top Gear reruns with the boys from Britain. Mostly, though, its usefulness is free 2-day shipping on stuff. :)
@Mac – I’ve exhausted all of my free Prime trial subscriptions. I would just feel dirty actually giving Bezos any money. But once Jeff supplants GB as commissioner, who knows how we’ll be watching hockey! :D
A discussion of the merits (or lack thereof) of onhockey tv — link to rocketfiles.com
That outfit sounds a lot like the dope that was trying to scam people on YT during the WJC. After enough outrage hit YT’s fans, the clown just resurfaced with multiple burner accounts doing the same thing.