The Hornets formalized a one-year, over-the-air local broadcast deal with Cox Media Group on Wednesday, choosing to pair a free linear television package with an upcoming direct-to-consumer partner in the coming weeks.
Sources have told SBJ that DAZN will likely end up housing the team’s game streams, paying the Hornets an expected minimum annual guarantee in the $1M-to-$2M range. But the decision to telecast all non-national games OTA with Cox — in a deal sources said probably includes a rights fee in the $7M-to-$8M range annually — was an organizational effort to be fan-friendly.
“As we evaluated a lot of different options, we kept on coming back to this option being the best solution for us,” Hornets Chief Business & Revenue Officer Mike Behan said. “Obviously, we’ve got a fantastic partner [in Cox]. They’ve got a great company, great solution here to reach audiences extremely wide across the Carolinas. And then to be able to provide this over-the-air where fans have the access, we’re able to increase our accessibility to our games, more people watching games is better for our organization.”
Last season, before Main Street Sports Group began defaulting on payments in January, the Hornets’ rights fee was approximately $16.5M, industry sources told SBJ. So this new OTA/DTC package, when finalized, is likely not a large dropoff.
The games will air on either Cox’s WSOC Channel 9 or TV64, depending on conflicts with WSOC’s mandatory ABC schedule. As soon as Thursday, WSOC will broadcast a 30-minute Hornets schedule release show. Then, during the season, the network will provide pregame and postgame shows, plus other ancillary programming.
Behan said the Hornets and Cox will collaborate on local ad sales, while Playfly is expected to sell national inventory. The deal between the team and Cox — which simulcast five Hornets games on WSOC last season — was handled in-house. Both WSOC Channel 9 and TV64 are available on Spectrum, ATT U-verse, DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, DISH Network and YouTube TV. WSOC Channel 9 is also available on Hulu + Live TV and FuboTV.
The one-year deal is purposeful because it allows the Hornets to join the league’s expected centralized broadcast hub for the 2027-28 season. Behan also said the team will lean into the league’s burgeoning in-house TV group for production so it has all the “bells and whistles” for a free linear broadcast.
“As an organization, again, we’re very fortunate that our ownership allows us the latitude to think this way,” Behan said.
Meanwhile, the Hornets become the fifth ex-Main Street Sports Group team to go over-the-air, following the Heat, Pistons, Bucks and Hawks. The T-Wolves have already done a full, exclusive streaming-only deal with DAZN, with the Cavaliers, Pacers, Grizzlies and Spurs expected to follow.