Watching Panthers games will be dramatically different this season. Watching Heat games won’t be different, but there might be another way to do it.
Here are the two ways to watch Panthers games this season following the team’s move from Bally Sports Florida to WSFL Channel 39:
1). Through the Panthers’ new app, Panthers Plus, which costs $69.99 for the season but doesn’t include the games exclusive to ESPN, ABC, TNT and ESPN Plus.
Panthers Plus can be accessed via web browsers, iOS, AppleTV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Additional platforms Android, Samsung TV and LG TV are expected to be added in the coming weeks, according to the Panthers and ViewLift, the Panthers’ digital partner.
For more information on availability or to sign up, go to panthersplus.tv.
2). On new rights holder WSFL Channel 39, which has a 70-game regular-season package, including Tuesday’s opener against Boston.
Cable and satellite providers which carry Channel 39 include AT&T U-Verse, Blue Stream, Breezeline, DirecTV satellite service, Hotwire and Xfinity. Those with providers that do not carry Channel 39 -- including Dish Network and YouTube TV - can watch Panthers games by purchasing and installing an antenna.
As for the Heat, it’s still undetermined if Amazon will acquire rights to stream Bally cablecasts of a dozen NBA teams, including the Heat, this season. Discussions are ongoing, but it’s not necessarily expected that a deal will be struck in time for opening night Oct. 23 against Orlando.
Either way, Heat games can be seen on Bally Sports Sun or through the Bally app. And if Amazon acquires rights, viewers would be getting the same product they receive by watching Bally Sun or through the Bally app. Only the means of distribution would be different, but the price likely will be very similar.
Through its app, Bally is offering all Bally Sports Sun programming, including 70-plus Heat games, through April for $124.99.
THIS AND THAT
▪ ESPN last week rolled out its NBA Future Power Rankings, which it describes as a “projection of the on-court success expected for each team over the next three seasons: 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27.”
The Heat finished in the bottom half of the league at No. 17 — in between New Orleans (16) and Sacramento (18). Miami was ranked seventh a year ago.
ESPN analysts Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks and Tim Bontemps rated teams in five categories and ranked them relative to the rest of the league.
Marks’ comment on the Heat: “Jimmy Butler’s future has the Heat in a holding pattern. Butler has a $52.4 million player option ahead of the 2025-26 season and can be a free agent if there is no extension by June 30.
“The Heat are now looking at two possibilities: If Butler leaves, Miami regains financial flexibility but in a below-average free agent class. If Butler opts-in or signs a new contract, the Heat once again are likely a luxury tax team.”
ESPN ranks the Heat with the 20th-best group of players (potential for improvement also was factored in); third best (behind only Oklahoma City and Boston) in terms of quality and stability of front office, ownership and coaching; 23rd in money (which includes “projected salary-cap situation; ability and willingness to exceed cap and pay luxury tax”); fifth in market (defined as “appeal to future acquisitions based on team quality, franchise reputation, city’s desirability as a destination, market size, taxes, business and entertainment opportunities, arena quality, fans) and 24th in future draft picks and draft positioning.
The Knicks, Lakers, Clippers and Golden State were the four teams ranked ahead of the Heat in the market category.
▪ Fox has every Dolphins game this month — Sunday at the Patriots, Oct. 20 at the Colts and Oct. 27 against Arizona.
Years ago, CBS would have had the Patriots and Colts games as part of its AFC package.
But the NFL now routinely gives “AFC” package games to Fox and traditional “NFC” package games to CBS to try to balance each network’s schedule.
The NFL still protects the integrity of the packages to an extent. For example: Of the two inter-division games played between teams each season, at least one of them must be on CBS (for AFC games) and Fox (for NFC games).
As an example, that means that Fox can’t lose both Cowboys-Eagles games to ESPN and NBC.
Chris Myers and Mark Sanchez call Sunday’s Dolphins-Patriots game on Fox, with the game to be televised only in parts of Florida and New England. Fox bypassed sending lead analyst Tom Brady back to New England for the game, instead opting to use its No. 1 team (Kevin Burkhardt and Brady) on an Arizona-San Francisco game.
▪ Brady, incidentally, has improved since Week 1, which is to be expected. He was precise and generally insightful in his commentary on the Eagles-Buccaneers game, pointing out exactly what Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was doing wrong and identifying specific defenders who made mistakes.
He also shared this nugget about a team he considered before joining Tampa Bay, where he won a Super Bowl and ended his career: “Chicago was a team — and I’ve never told that story before. They very stealth in their recruitment. I was seriously considering [them]. . . . They were really under the radar. And nobody would have realized that. You know, free agency’s a tricky thing. Once you make the decision, there’s no looking back and there’s no reason to ever tell anybody that.”
On his podcast, TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal encouraged Brady to “talk about your experience. Tell stories and be yourself.” Brady seemed to listen to that advice last Sunday.
O’Neal cracked that “everybody can’t be Charles Barkley and just take over segments and blurt out and take 9 minutes to answer one damn question. You got to get used to it. So this year might be tough for him but by the second and third year, he’s going to be as good as Troy Aikman. Troy Aikman is really good, but Troy Aikman when he talks about football, we believe him because we know how great Troy was.”
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