Pacers Sports & Entertainment announced Tuesday a multi-year media rights extension with Bally Sports Indiana, the longtime television home of the Pacers and Fever.
Under the agreement, Bally Sports Indiana will continue to televise and stream all available regular season Pacers games, two preseason games and available first-round postseason games each season. The regional sports network will also carry up to 10 Fever games per season. Bally Sports Indiana is entering its 27th season as the Pacers’ media partner.
“The partnership renewal with Bally Sports Indiana allows Pacers and Fever fans to access the basketball content they love however they choose to consume it,” said Rick Fuson, PS&E chief executive officer. “The upcoming launch of Bally Sports+ complements the traditional content distribution model by delivering our games and other programming directly to the consumer. This ensures a direct connection to anyone in the region, a major priority for us as we finalized this deal.”
Bally Sports Indiana is widely available on cable, satellite and streaming providers throughout the region. In addition, beginning September 26, fans can watch their favorite teams on Bally Sports+, the network’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service that gives fans direct access to their favorite hometown teams. Visit BallySportsPlus.com for more information.
“We’re extremely proud of our 27-year partnership with the Pacers and thrilled to announce an extension of our media rights,” said Jack Donovan, senior vice president and general manager of Bally Sports Indiana. “Pacers Sports & Entertainment is one of the most respected organizations in sports, and the Pacers consistently generate some of the highest local-market TV ratings in the NBA. We look forward to continuing to deliver high-quality productions of Pacers basketball to as many fans as possible, on cable, satellite, streaming TV and now via a new way to watch: Bally Sports+, our direct-to-consumer streaming service.”
In structuring the deal, PS&E partnered with Dan Granik and David Sternberg of Claygate Advisors, which provides consulting services to sports properties and media platforms around the world.
“David and Dan were tremendous to work with. Their combined wealth of knowledge, insight, and counsel proved invaluable as we worked to navigate the rapidly changing media landscape,” Fuson said. “They were able to effectively evaluate the myriad of options, both traditional and new, to help us set our strategic direction.”
