Add the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury to those who have cut the cord when it comes to cable television.
Mat Ishbia, the new owner of both franchises, announced Friday that his teams will transition to free over-the-air television in multiple Arizona markets while also broadcasting games on a new streaming platform.
The Suns and Mercury said in a statement from Ishbia that they would provide all locally broadcast games on television and online streaming through a partnership with Gray Television Inc and video technology startup Kiswe.
The deal would increase the teams’ ability to reach customers who dropped their cable subscriptions, potentially allowing it to reach three times as many fans for each game, said Mat Ishbia, owner of Suns and Mercury.
“Cord cutters, cable subscribers, fans with an antenna — everyone will be able to watch Suns and Mercury games,” Ishbia said in a statement.
Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia said his team will move to a new broadcast group
Diamond Sports Group – operating as Bally Sports – said the move violates US bankruptcy law
The move comes as the teams’ contract with Bally Sports Arizona expired after 20 years. Bally Sports’ parent company, Diamond Sports Group, filed for bankruptcy in March.
“We will have more fans than ever before,” said Ishbia, who bought the teams in February.
“We will have more people watching Devin Booker and Deandre (Ayton) and Kevin Durant, Chris (Paul) and cheering on the team. And more people buy merchandise because they are bigger fans.’
Diamond Sports Group said it would oppose the deal.
“The Phoenix Suns have breached our contract and violated bankruptcy law, and Diamond Sports Group will pursue all legal remedies against any party attempting to exert control over our ownership interests as we reorganize,” Diamond Sports said in a statement.
U.S. bankruptcy law protects debtors from changing or terminating their contracts without their consent. Diamond has said it will continue to broadcast all games under its existing contracts and make all required payments to NBA teams during its bankruptcy.
Diamond, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, broadcasts games for nearly half of all teams in the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Hockey League under the Bally Sports brand.
Diamond filed for Chapter 11 protection in March with a proposal to reduce $8 billion in debt.
Under the plan, the Suns and Mercury will produce their own games for local broadcast
They will also distribute both teams’ games nationally for free for chord cutters
It targeted the Suns’ contract, but Diamond also broadcasts Mercury games, which will feature Brittney Griner, who rejoined the team after her recent release from Russia in a prisoner swap with the US.
Griner had her first press conference with the team since her release from prison on Thursday, where she broke down in tears before thanking the media for their coverage of her struggle, telling them to cover the season the same way.
“I would like to encourage all of you to be there for our first game and our entire season, and also the entire competition, from start to finish,” Griner demanded. “I expect to see the same coverage because we have a great product.”
Diamond said at the start of its bankruptcy that it had good relationships with the NBA and its teams, pointing to MLB as the main obstacle to its efforts to stream online games.
The Suns and Mercury have not disclosed the financial terms of the new broadcasting deal or the terms of the current Diamond Sports contract.
Gray Television said the new deal would allow it to air at least 70 regular season games in future seasons.
Ishbia says the broadcasts will be broadcast on local television and a new streaming platform
While the Suns hope to more than triple the number of available households in the state to 2.8 million, they are expected to take a financial hit when it comes to entitlement fees. Games are expected to run on wireless networks in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Flagstaff using an in-house production team.
“It’s not about money for us. We focus on winning, success and taking care of fans, taking care of the community,” said Ishbia. “What happens is you always end up making money. It always works out.’
Currently, the NBA is in its seventh year of a nine-year contract with both ESPN and Turner Sports – with the latter broadcasting games on TNT.
Officially, no fees have been released, but it was rumored that the two networks paid the league a combined $2.7 billion for the rights.