Scripps Sports is the

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

division of the

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

; it is responsible for the broadcasting of sporting events across its

broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized b ...

portfolio, including local stations and co-owned networks (such as Ion Television).

History

The formation of Scripps Sports was announced in December 2022. Company president Adam P. Symson stated that the division planned to compete with

regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...

s to pursue local rights to professional sports teams for its stations, and pursue national broadcasting contracts for its

Ion Media Ion Media (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) was an American broadcasting company that owned and operated over 71 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group ...

division (including Ion Television). He argued that the pay television RSN industry was an "old model" that is "not set up to move forward", and that "we are really well-situated to participate in future models with sports teams, leagues, and conferences." In April 2023, Scripps Sports announced its first broadcast contract, a regular season package of Friday-night WNBA basketball games for Ion. The following month, amid the winddown of

AT&T SportsNet AT&T Sports Networks, LLC (ATTSN) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States that primarily own and operate AT&T Sports Networks (founded in 2009, as Liberty Sports Holdings, later DirecTV Sports Networks, LLC). It is owned by W ...

, Scripps Sports reached an agreement for regional rights to the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. The games will be syndicated to stations within the team's designated market (with

KMCC KMCC (channel 34) is a television station licensed to Laughlin, Nevada, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Las Vegas area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside A ...

as flagship), and offered via the subscription-based over-the-top service KnightTime+. In October 2023, it also reached an agreement with the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

(with KNXV-DT2 as flagship), after Bally Sports Arizona rejected its contract with the team and subsequently shut down services not long afterward. On November 9, 2023, the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

announced Scripps Sports as a rightsholder beginning in the 2024 season, with Ion to air Saturday night doubleheaders. Ion will also air the

2024 NWSL Draft The 2024 NWSL Draft presented by Ally will be the twelfth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaini ...

Programs

Current national broadcast rights

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

** 25 weeks of regular season matches on Saturday nights per-season on Ion Television (2024–present) ** 2024 NWSL Draft * WNBA ** ''Friday Night Showcase''; 15 weeks of regular season games per-season on Ion Television (2023–present)

Current regional broadcast rights

References

{{Sports television in the United States 2022 establishments in Ohio

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

Sports television networks in the United States