The Anaheim Ducks will broadcast 65 of the team’s NHL games on Fox Television Stations’ Los Angeles outlet KCOP starting with the 2025-26 season. The deal announced Tuesday is the latest by a major league sports team to put local telecasts on a free over-the-air channel that consumers can watch with a TV antenna. The games also will be available on a new ad-supported streaming service called Victory+, launching next month.
The move toward broadcast TV reflects how team owners are concerned that cord-cutting — canceling cable subscriptions in favor of streaming platforms — is limiting the exposure of their teams’ games in their local markets. “It is a significant organizational priority to connect Ducks fans with our entire market and for every fan in our region to have the opportunity to watch Ducks games without cost across multiple, accessible platforms,” Ducks President Aaron Teats said in a statement. The reach of over-the-air TV was clearly a factor in the NBA’s decision to award its new TV contracts to NBCUniversal and the Walt Disney Co.
, which both have broadcast stations in their portfolio, while making Amazon Prime Video its primary streaming platform. One reason the NBA’s longtime incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery lost in the bidding for the new contract is its dependence on cable networks.
(The company is suing the NBA, claiming it had the right to match the Amazon deal.) KCOP reaches 100% of the 8 million homes in Los Angeles and Orange County. V.