By Doug Haller, Mike Vorkunov and Shams Charania
The Phoenix Suns and Mercury are moving forward with their partnership with Gray Television, Inc. to create new distribution channels for games starting next season after Diamond Sports declined to match the deal. Here’s what you need to know:
- The teams’ contract with Bally Sports Arizona expired after the 2022-23 season. Bally Sports is owned by Diamond Sports Group, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
- Diamond Sports sued the teams and the new media partners after their deal was announced in April, alleging the move breached Diamond’s RSN agreement and bankruptcy law. A U.S. Bankruptcy judge then blocked the deal from moving forward, saying the team had violated Diamond’s right to negotiate a contract extension and had to allow the chance to match.
- The Gray Television deal will give more than 2.8 million homes in Arizona access to Suns and Mercury games for free (either on television or via streaming), owner Mat Ishbia said in a statement Friday.
- Arizona’s Family will be the local broadcasting partner and will show non-nationally televised games to viewers on Arizona’s Family television stations KTVK (3TV) and KPHE (Arizona’s Family Sports), the teams announced.
What else Ishbia said
The owner, who took over the Phoenix teams in February, told The Athletic’s Shams Charania that allowing fans to watch games for free was a “major priority” for the organization.
“Fan experience is the key and this move will help grow the game and our fan base as well,” Ishbia added. “This is the future of local sports, making it available for everyone for free. We are excited to lead this.”
What does this mean for fans?
This, theoretically, should make it easier for Suns and Mercury fans to watch the games of those teams. With games on free TV and available to stream, it should be a more frictionless experience, without the need to subscribe to a cable provider or to get the right package. That’s what Ishbia is plainly hoping for. — Vorkunov
What does this mean for the NBA?
This is the direction the NBA is headed with its local broadcasts as regional sports networks continue to bring instability to teams and leagues. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has signaled that he expects NBA teams to return to over-the-air broadcasts in an attempt to get more games widely seen in local markets, while also working around the reach issues RSNs present. Teams will likely pair that with some kind of direct-to-consumer option to reach younger audiences who consume games outside of linear television. The Jazz announced a similar model last month.
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This Suns/Mercury deal will do both. It will put games on free TV, or what Silver called, “A return to the past in a way where we were in the old days,” during an appearance at the SBJ World Congress of Sports in April, and also make them available to stream through a Suns or Mercury app viewers can download on their phones or smart TVs. The franchise announced that Mercury games would be free to stream this season, though it would most likely become a paid product in the future for both teams.
The question is how many more teams will follow suit as the RSN industry remains in a state of upheaval. Diamond Sports Group, which owns the TV rights to 16 teams, filed for bankruptcy in March. Cord-cutting has made the potential audiences smaller for all networks, and several NBA teams have been in prolonged contract disputes with their cable providers preventing the RSNs that air their games from even reaching the air of a significant portion of their local market. — Vorkunov
Required reading
(Photo of Ishbia: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)
