A new era of Nashville Predators broadcasting has arrived.
On Tuesday, the Preds, alongside Scripps, announced a new multi-year partnership beginning with the 2026-27 season to make Scripps Sports the TV and streaming home of the Predators.
As part of the new agreement, Scripps Sports will produce and distribute all local preseason, regular season and first-round playoff Predators games that are not allocated exclusively to national broadcasts.
And best of all? Preds fans in the team’s broadcast territory will be able to watch games completely free on a brand new local station in Middle Tennessee branded “The Spot - Nashville 28.”
The channel will be available over the air with an antenna, on cable and satellite distributors serving the Predators territory, and on WTVF NewsChannel 5 - which is also owned by Scripps - on select occasions when programming is designated.
In addition to Predators games, Scripps will also produce a live 30-minute pregame and postgame show for every locally broadcast game, just like fans have become accustomed to with the current Predators Live pregame and postgame offering.
Plus, the Predators and Scripps Sports will also be introducing a new, direct-to-consumer experience where fans will be able to livestream games throughout the local broadcast territory, with more details on that service set to be unveiled soon.
For viewers in the team’s broadcast territory in locations other than Middle Tennessee - Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi - Scripps will be working to align broadcasters in League-approved markets for local distribution on Preds games. The streaming app will also be available in all of these markets.
Fans will continue to see play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic, color analyst Chris Mason and rinkside reporters Kara Hammer (home games), Lyndsay Rowley (road games & pregame and postgame host) and Hal Gill (home game pre and postgame host) on the Scripps television broadcast.
As the Preds strive to continually improve the franchise on and off the ice, Tuesday’s announcement is one worth celebrating, especially considering the drastic increase in availability for fans to watch Predators hockey with the new deal.
“It is so exciting,” Preds CEO Sean Henry said of the partnership. "We've been on the same network since the team launched 28 years ago, and that was great. But, our TV market is vast, and as people started cutting cords and choosing different methods and channels being put on different tiers, that got more limited… And now, Scripps just jumped in with both feet.”
Scripps, which also operates partnerships with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth of the NHL, as well as numerous other professional sports franchises and leagues, has become a trusted name in the sports broadcasting landscape.
Over the past two seasons, a handful of Predators games have also been shown on NewsChannel 5 in the Nashville market with overwhelmingly positive viewership numbers and response.
“We're working with the leader in innovation and what they're bringing about,” Henry said of Scripps. “It's just exciting because they're good at what they do. They're proud of what they do. The second part is our DNA matches. They have done things with us in the community from our literacy programs to our books programs to responding to emergencies and storms - we always say ‘Yes’ to them, and they always say ‘Yes’ to us. We're just so aligned in what we do. And from a NewsChannel 5 standpoint, they’re the No. 1 station in town. Whenever you get a chance to partner with the leader, it's exciting.
“And the best part about it is our game will be available to everyone. Not a game goes by where I don't get an email from someone, and it's just a very frustrating email, because all they want to do is watch our games. For one reason or another, they can't get it, but now they're going to be able to.”
According to Henry, with the new “The Spot” channel, plus expanded mobile app capabilities, Preds programming will be at an all-time high with, “a full library of offerings - unique programming…and it's going to give us so many more opportunities to connect with our fans.”
That momentum figures to continue, and the potential to grow the Nashville fanbase with a partnership of this magnitude feels limitless.
“Inertia is a powerful thing,” Henry said. “Our ratings will probably increase tenfold. I mean, think about where we are and where we can be, if not more than that. It’s going to be staggering. The games that we put on NewsChannel 5, you look at the eyeballs on that game versus a normal game, and it's just incredible. So, if you're not even a fan, but you have that channel on, you see the game start, you're probably going to become a casual fan. Casual fans become fans. Fans become avid fans. Avid fans become fanatics. And the fact is, if you can't see the game, that 6-year-old is not going to fall in love with the game. It’s really that simple.”
Details on how to find The Spot on your television will be announced soon, and additional information on the broadcast deal and how the Preds and Scripps will usher in this new era is also set to come in the weeks and months ahead.
In the meantime, click here to learn more about the partnership.
