Cord Cut: Florida Panthers make deal to air games in SW FL on broadcast TV next season

Fort Myers area residents won't need cable to watch the Florida Panthers make a run at defending their Stanley Cup title.

The Panthers announced signing a multi-year agreement with Scripps Sports to locally broadcast their games in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Fort Myers markets. The Panthers had been broadcast on Bally Sports.

WFTX Fox4 is the area's Scripps affiliate, which is channel 36 over air, but the sides have not announced what broadcast channel will show the games next season. WFTX broadcasts from Marco Island to Arcadia in Southwest Florida.

Previously:Florida Everblades, Florida Panthers end affiliation agreement after two seasons

Under this new agreement, The E.W. Scripps Company can televise all locally broadcast Panthers preseason, regular-season and NHL Playoff round one games on cable, satellite and over-the-air television.

“After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and celebrating 30 years of Panthers Hockey in South Florida, we could not be more excited about the future of our hockey team. Scripps’ distribution network and accessibility makes them the ideal partner to stream and carry Panthers content on and off the ice,” said Panthers President and CEO Matthew Caldwell. “Panthers content will be available for free over the air and we are thrilled about the new homes this will reach as we continue to grow our great sport.”

Scripps Sports and the Panthers will collaborate to launch a team-branded direct-to-consumer application with details to be announced before the 2024-2025 season. This direct-to-consumer application will be the destination for live streaming of all Scripps Sports-produced games in South Florida. Scripps Sports will be responsible for the production of the pregame, in-game, and postgame shows.

“The Florida Panthers are the best team in the NHL, and their fans deserve to be able to see all of their games on every available broadcast platform, including free over-the-air,” said Brian Lawlor, Scripps Sports president. “When the Stanley Cup champions take the ice in October, Scripps Sports will be proud to bring all locally broadcast games to all the Panthers fans in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Fort Myers using our powerful over-the-air TV stations.”

“We would like to take a moment to thank and acknowledge the commitment from Bally Sports Florida since the inception of our franchise,” said Caldwell. “We look forward to an unprecedented amount of support and attention on hockey in Florida as we move forward.”