The Utah Hockey Club will make its NHL regular-season debut Tuesday in a national broadcast on ESPN, but could be left out of local viewers afterward thanks to a carriage dispute.
Comcast and Scripps Sports have been unable to reach an agreement on a deal that would see the cable operator carry independent local affiliate KUPX (Utah 16). Utah’s first local broadcast is scheduled for Thursday when it travels east to play the New York Islanders.
More from Sportico.com
“Tuesday marks a historic day in Utah, and Scripps Sports is very disappointed that Comcast has chosen not to provide its subscribers with access to Utah 16, home of the Utah Hockey Club,” Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor said in a statement. “Despite our repeated efforts to work with Comcast to bring this channel to Utahns, Comcast has made it clear that broadcasting the Utah Hockey Club is not a priority for them.”
Although the affiliate is a broadcast channel, it must enter into retransmission agreements with cable and satellite providers to be available on their systems.
Comcast did not respond to a request for comment.
For now, Comcast users in the team’s regional footprint are being advised by Scripps Sports to call the operator to ramp up the pressure to make a deal. They can also watch Utah 16 via a digital antenna, live streaming TV providers like Fubo or the team on the UtahHC+ streaming platform.
Comcast has often danced this waltz with sports channels, including a lengthy dispute over the summer with the Bally Sports channels owned by Diamond Sports Group.
Utah’s hockey dream came true last spring when the Arizona Coyotes were in limbo after a last-ditch effort to secure land for a new arena in North Phoenix. Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the Utah Jazz and the Delta Center, purchased the Coyotes’ operations from the NHL for $1.3 billion. (That was made possible because the league bought those assets from Alex Meruelo for $1 billion while giving him the right to revive the Coyotes franchise within five years.)
The Coyotes spent their final season at Scripps affiliates in Arizona after the team and Diamond Sports Group mutually agreed to break the broadcast agreement, which was the final nail in the coffin for Bally Sports Arizona. Earlier in 2023, the Phoenix Suns and Mercury left the regional sports channel for over-the-air options, while MLB picked up local broadcast rights from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
According to Nielsen, Salt Lake City is the 27th largest media market in the US, with 1.174 million television households. The NHL’s newest market is actually bigger than Pittsburgh, Columbus, Las Vegas and Buffalo. Prior to the arrival of the Utah Hockey Club, KUPX broadcast the Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights to fans across the state.
The Utah Hockey Club’s first regular season game will take place on ESPN when they host the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center.
The best of Sportico.com
Sign up for the Sportico newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
