Tampa Bay Lightning, Scripps Sports Partner On Multi-year Agreement To Air NHL Team's Games

E.W. Scripps

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(RTTNews) - The Tampa Bay Lightning have entered into a multi-year media rights agreement with Scripps Sports, which will make it easier than ever for fans throughout the Tampa Bay area to watch Lightning hockey games for free beginning with the start of the 2025-26 NHL season this fall.

This new agreement allows The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) to produce and distribute all preseason, regular season and first-round playoff Lightning games that are not allocated exclusively to national broadcasts.

Scripps, which owns WFTS-ABC Action News serving the Tampa television market, plans to launch a second full-power local station serving the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, WXPX-TV, which will be the broadcast home of the Lightning.

In addition to the local TV broadcasts, the Lightning and Scripps Sports will be introducing a new, direct-to-consumer experience where Bolts fans can livestream games within the Lightning app throughout the Bolts' broadcast territory, powered by ViewLift. More details on the streaming experience will be made available prior to the start of the 2025-26 season.

"The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of the best teams in the NHL, and Bolts fans deserve easy access to all their games via cable, satellite, free over-the-air and streaming," said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports. "The complement of broadcast television and streaming guarantees that fans can follow the games from their living room or wherever they are in their busy lives. We look forward to sharing many winning moments with one of the league's most loyal fan bases."