While the team has officially declined to comment at this time, multiple sources have informed DLLS that the Dallas Stars are planning to move their game broadcasts from Victory+ to Amazon Prime Video and potentially one other platform, starting this season.
Teams and broadcasts have been trickling away from Victory+ over the past few months, with both the Texas Rangers leaving for BZZR and Anaheim Ducks planning to terminate their contract in July, as well as multiple early-season High School Football games being dropped more recently. Most of these came with reports of missed payments and financial concerns.
If the Stars do move their games over to Prime Video, joining only the Seattle Kraken as of this moment, the expectation is that they would not technically be free to watch. However, they would be part of the very popular and far more encompassing Amazon Prime subscription, so many would not have to go out and buy another subscription to watch Stars games.
Amazon has already become a player in the NHL over the past couple of years, with weekly broadcasts in Canada and its series, “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL” — Which multiple Dallas Stars players were cut from, in case you forgot.
There have been a few rumors about other networks becoming part of the plan as well, but we haven’t gotten confirmation on that yet.
Dallas will also be featured 13 times on National TV, as the team and NHL announced last week.
Not all details are known, but signs point toward the end of Victory+ as a whole, not just for the Stars. That would mean the free direct-to-consumer platform lasted two years after signing a seven-year agreement with A Parent Media Co. Inc at launch. They made some big strides in those two years, bringing on the Stars, Rangers, Ducks, high school football, and even a few games from other NHL clubs, among other sports.
I know it was far from perfect, but it was also free and widely available to fans around the DFW area. In a TV climate where many NHL fans are unable to watch their local teams due to blackouts and crazy restrictions, Victory+ provided a much easier platform for Stars fans. So while it will not be looked at as an overall success, it did have some moments over its lifespan.
As of now, we don’t have any further information on how this process will go. Whether or not preseason games will be available, what type of changes we will see to the broadcast or crew, and much more will hopefully be revealed soon.