Trail Blazers reach local television deal, greatly expand distribution

Watching Portland Trail Blazers games just became dramatically easier and less expensive.

The Blazers and Sinclair Broadcast Group will launch the Rip City Television Network and air games over a series of affiliates in the Pacific Northwest, including KATU in Portland.

In addition, fans can stream games through the BlazerVision subscription service.

The Blazers said the changes will quadruple the team's reach in Oregon and Washington.

The shift to partnering with a local network comes after nearly two decades of partnerships with regional sports networks that ultimately failed to provide a fan-friendly service to Rip City fans. The Blazers announced in August that they were parting ways with Root Sports Northwest after two seasons.

Now, for the first time, most Blazers games will be available over a local network either through an over-the-air antenna or a local cable or satellite provider that carries KATU or KUNP, a Spanish-language channel that will be converted to an English-based station focused on news and sports starting Jan. 1.

"This is a great way to kick it off," said Rob Weisbord, chief operating officer and president of local media at Sinclair.

Only games scheduled to air on national networks will not appear on the new network. Right now, that's only one game, meaning 81 games in the 2024-25 season would air on Rip City Television.

"There's always been partnerships in the past where we've been on either the old-school BlazerVision, or some sort of version of the cable, and there was maybe a handful of games over the air," said Dewayne Hankins, president of business operations for the Blazers and the Rose Quarter. "But this is the first time it will be a majority."

Other Northwest stations within the Sinclair family are:

Eugene: KVAL, KCBY and KPIC

Medford: KTVL

Yakima/Pasco: KEPR and KIMA

Seattle: KUNS

CHANGE NEEDED

Starting in 2007, the Blazers aired for 14 seasons on NBC Sports Northwest, which was owned by Comcast. That relationship was dogged by the network's inability to secure a deal to air on DirecTV and Dish, leaving much of the market unable to view games.

The move to Root Sports rectified that situation since the network airs on both major satellite providers and Xfinity/Comcast.

Last season, however, Xfinity bumped the network from its standard television package to its "Ultimate" package, which cost fans an additional $20 per month.

"When we did the deal with them, we had more distribution than we've ever had," Hankins said. "It just didn't continue that way throughout the agreement."

A rise in costs to watch a team working on a 21-61 season after trading fan favorite Damian Lillard turned off fans. According to the Sports Business Journal, the Blazers experienced a 49% drop in viewership.

"We believe that was largely due to the fact that our games were no longer available," Hankins said. "What this deal unlocks for us is just reach. We will have four times the reach that we had last year across the Pacific Northwest, in Washington and Oregon. And that's a game changer for us."

Improving that reach during a rebuild, Hankins said, has its benefits.

"As we were turning the page on a new chapter with our organization, our games were suddenly more difficult to watch," Hankins said. "It certainly wouldn't have been how we wanted that to play out."

With that, the Blazers looked at the agreement with Root and decided a change was needed.

"We wanted to make the best decision for our fans," he said. "We wanted our games to be available."

Hankins, who grew up in Chicago, recalled how he bonded with teams such as the Chicago Cubs because they aired regularly on WGN.

"You create lifelong fans when they're able to watch your games," Hankins said. "And so for us, that really kept us as our North Star and our center. And we had productive conversations, really productive conversations with the group here in Sinclair, and they had obviously had a great track record with Utah (Jazz), which helped a ton."

The Jazz moved from the regional sports network world to local broadcasting last season on KJZZ Salt Lake City, owned by Sinclair.

"They had the same belief in things that we did," Hankins said of Sinclair. "And both their KATU network, which is highly regarded within Portland, and then their family networks across the Pacific Northwest, got us really excited about the opportunity. So it was a no-brainer after that."

It can't be ignored that the Blazers went the regional network route in order to cash in on the big money such entities were throwing at teams across the country. In 2007, the Blazers reportedly received a 10-year, $120 million contract from Comcast to air 55 regular-season games. The rest aired on KGW.

The terms of the deal with Sinclair were not disclosed, but it's doubtful that the Blazers will receive such upfront money.

"I think over the long term, it's going to be great for us," Hankins said. "If we looked at it just short-term, it wouldn't be how you would want to do this. But I think we believe in creating lifelong fans. We believe that we can monetize the broadcasts better over time."

Hankins said that improving distribution four-fold will lead to more eyeballs, which leads to more tickets and merchandise sold over the long haul.

Even during a rebuild, Hankins said, fans can become more connected with the young players if they have greater access to the games.

"I think when your team is in this era of the rebuild, it's those glimpses, it's those moments, and so more fans will be able to get those moments and get excited about what they can see on the court," Hankins said. "Even if it's not on the wins and losses side of it."

The return of BlazerVision will fill the gaps for fans who either don't have access to cable or satellite television, get a weak signal over their antenna, or want to be able to watch games on the go.

"It's audience preference," Hankins said.

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Fans will access BlazerVision through NBA.com and the NBA app. Cost will be $19.99 per month or $120 per year. Fans who sign up for a full season by Nov. 1 will receive a pair of 300-level tickets to a select Blazers game.

BlazerVision will also feature access to on-demand replays, classic games, and exclusive content.

The move marks the end of the franchise's long run with regional sports networks, which provided additional revenue but frustrated thousands of fans who could not access games.

"I think this was a natural transition," Hankins said. "I think you're seeing it across the RSN industry as other teams are going through their situations."