Ryan Schaber has had a front row seat to both the dynamics behind the Kraken’s now-extended broadcast affiliation with TEGNA and its impact on the broader sports community.
As the vice president in charge of the team’s Kraken Hockey Network (KHN) broadcasts and a father with children playing multiple sports around the city, Schaber has stood on soccer, basketball, baseball and football sidelines with other parents who also happen to be longstanding fans of local pro teams. They’ve let him know how appreciative they are about the team’s partnership with TEGNA, which on Thursday received a multi-year extension, and the improved access to Kraken games it’s provided.
“Just a huge amount of people have come up to me and said, ‘Oh, great, I can watch the games now! I didn’t have access before and now I do!’” Schaber said. “It’s really great. I actually hear that a lot and it makes me feel good because I think we’ve always done good work and put on a good product. But the fact so many people can see it now is just great.”
KHN was formed by the Kraken two years ago ahead of partnering on distribution of free broadcasts with TEGNA starting last season, which has resulted in a tripling of the team’s audience across a five-state territory. he KHN games are shown free over-the-air on TEGNA affiliates such as KING-5 and KONG in the Seattle area and other partner stations that can reach the Pacific Northwest’s four largest markets and more than four million households.
The team also offers free streaming of games to Amazon Prime members through Prime Video. That’s part of a separate deal that isn’t impacted by Thursday’s announcement.
The TEGNA extension comes as the Kraken return to action next week from the Winter Olympic break within striking distance of the Pacific Division lead as they embark on a final 26-game push towards appearing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Those types of playoff quests typically garner new fans that will continue to have a free gateway to televised Kraken hockey at a time when the sports media landscape can be difficult to navigate.
All non-nationally televised games will continue to be shown on KONG in Seattle with up to 20 games simulcast on the NBC-affiliate KING 5.
Fans outside Seattle can watch games on TEGNA stations KREM-KSKN in Spokane and KGW in Portland. TEGNA is also working with additional broadcast companies to expand free over-the-air broadcast access to all available television markets in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. KING 5, TEGNA, and the Kraken will lead advertising and sponsorship sales for all local games.
“We are thrilled to extend our outstanding partnership with the Seattle Kraken,” Brad Ramsey, senior vice president and head of sport rights at TEGNA, said in a release Thursday. “We have done exactly what we set out to do, giving more fans, in more homes, access to more games than ever before. We are more committed than ever to serving local fans with the content they care most about, and our advertising partners with solutions that help them move the needle.”
The weekly Kraken Home Ice show on KING 5, hosted by Paul Silvi, will remain a key part of team-related behind-the-scenes content under the expanded deal.
Kraken VP Schaber said the weekly show “helps connect us all” across the network of affiliated channels, as does the ability to share resources and utilize TEGNA talent such as Silvi and anchor Chris Egan on occasional Kraken broadcasts. Schaber added that TEGNA leading the way in local sports broadcasting as home to the Kraken and Seahawks as well as nationally through NBC Sunday Night Football and Super Bowl LX, NBA on NBC and the 2026 Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina – in which four Kraken players are participating – has helped further connect the NHL team to the broader sports community.
The on-air KHN production and talent remain the same under the extended partnership, anchored by what Schaber calls the “world class talent” of play-by-play commentator John Forslund that’s existed from the team’s launch. But with support from the Kraken’s investor group, he added, the idea has been to keep growing the broadcast with new ideas and technical features as the audience continues to expand.
“From my standpoint, I think the partnership has been outstanding on many levels,” Schaber said. “Primarily, it’s just that it feels like a true partnership and that’s great. But the ancillary part of it, as I’ve said, is that it’s opened the viewership to so many new eyeballs that can experience Seattle Kraken hockey through the power of television. So, from that standpoint, I think the partnership has been a match made in heaven.”
