Friday, Diamond Sports said It will broadcast more than a dozen NBA team games during the 2024-25 season.
As the Times-Picayune first report Earlier this month, the New Orleans Pelicans will not be among the 13 teams that will remain in business with Diamond Sports this season.
The Pelicans have decided to part ways with the bankrupt regional sports network operator and will announce in the coming weeks a partnership with Gray Television, owner of WVUE-TV Fox 8. The move is intended to improve the team’s reach in the New Orleans area and the broader Gulf South.
Last season, the Pelicans aired seven of their games on WVUE-TV Fox 8. This season, sources familiar with the situation told the Times-Picayune that between eight and 10 of the Pelicans’ 82 regular-season games will return to Fox 8.
Ultimately, the Pelicans’ plan, according to multiple sources, is to broadcast the vast majority of their games on a newly created network, which will be called the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network.
The Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network will be available over-the-air, meaning anyone with an antenna will be able to watch it for free in many major markets in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. There have already been preliminary discussions about airing high school sports on the network as well, multiple sources said.
In July, the Pelicans learned they were one of five NBA teams that Diamond Sports planned to drop in an attempt to stay afloat. The Pelicans and Gray Television, who had previously worked together last season, began discussions about a permanent partnership. Diamond Sports re-upped with the Pelicans in early August, but the team decided to continue with Gray Television as its local rights partner, despite Diamond Sports’ offer of guaranteed rights money.
Last season, the 69 Pelicans games broadcast on Diamond-owned Bally Sports averaged 12,807 TV households. Pelicans games broadcast live drew significantly higher audiences. The seven games broadcast by Fox 8 and other Gray partners averaged 46,057 TV households, while the three games broadcast on the Bounce substation averaged 18,400 TV households.
As cable subscribers continue to decline across the country, a handful of teams have decided to offer their games on over-the-air signals to local viewers. The Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns both offered their games on over-the-air signals last season and saw big ratings increases. The Jazz’s local viewership jumped 39%, while the Suns’ local viewership jumped 69%. according to the Sports Business Journal.
