Diamond Sports Group's plans to "drop its regional sports contracts after fulfilling them in 2024" would "likely provide more opportunities for Scripps to pick up contracts with some of those teams left without a local TV partner,” according to Steve Watkins of the CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER. Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor said, “There’s a lot of contingency planning by teams and leagues to have distribution options if the creditors pull the rug out early. It’s really messy right now.” Lawlor said that Scripps “already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season." He “declined to say which teams those deals are with or which leagues they play in." Lawlor said the company has “been talking to many of them for months” and noted Scripps does "see opportunity.” Watkins noted Scripps’ big selling point is that it can “provide over-the-air as well as cable and satellite access because it owns more than 60 TV stations in 40-plus markets.” Sports deals “work best for Scripps when it owns a second over-the-air station" in a market, as it can “convert that station to an independent station that carries sports along with other programming.” Scripps has “already seen strong ratings for Golden Knights and Coyotes games.” Lawlor: “We’ve been blown away by the Golden Knights over-the-air ratings and the number of people who have subscribed to direct-to-consumer (streaming games)” (CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER, 11/28).
