The Predators are taking their local telecasts over the air beginning next season under a multiyear agreement with Scripps Sports. The company’s ION station in the Nashville market, WNPX-TV, will carry all preseason, regular-season and first-round playoff games not designated as national TV exclusives — more than 70 per season. The Predators are the fifth NHL team to tap Scripps as their local broadcast partner, joining the Lightning, Panthers, Golden Knights and Mammoth.

The move comes as Main Street Sports Group, which operates the FanDuel–branded RSNs, prepares to shutter following the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Predators games had been shown locally on FanDuel Sports Network South (which has operated under a variety of different names) since the team joined the league in 1998-99. The Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Blues and Wild are now the four remaining Main Street teams in the NHL that have yet to announce their plans for next season.

The Predators are a natural fit for Scripps’ local broadcast model given the company’s ownership of two full-power stations in Middle Tennessee. Its primary station, CBS-affiliated WTVF NewsChannel 5, will provide promotional support for Predators telecasts on its sister station. WNPX will be renamed The Spot — Nashville 28, mirroring the branding of the secondary Tampa station that carries Lightning games.

“That’s the formula that we have focused on to this point, and I think that’s where we feel like we can create the greatest value for the teams and create value for advertisers and partners,” Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor said.

The Predators and Scripps will also partner 50-50 on a paid streaming service for local telecasts, details of which will be announced later. Lawlor said they have yet to pick a technology partner for the service, a role that ViewLift has filled in Scripps’ arrangements with the Lightning, Panthers and Golden Knights.

The Lightning, Panthers and Golden Knights — all three of which have won Stanley Cups this decade — have each reported significant viewership increases since moving from cable RSNs to over-the-air stations. In addition to their on-ice success, they have attributed those gains to greater household penetration in their primary markets and expanded geographic reach.

Predators CEO Sean Henry expects to see a similar uptick locally and across the team’s broadcast territory, which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. Scripps will seek to partner with other broadcasters in those areas to distribute Predators games.

“We’re going to reach 90 to 95% of all the households in Nashville’s DMA immediately — if we change nothing today, that’s where we’d be — as opposed to what, 25 to 35% under our old arrangement,” Henry said.

He added: “History shows they’ve done working in the outer markets from their main cities that they partner with, and I have no reason to believe that we won’t achieve the same thing. This way my daughter at Auburn can watch our games as easily as my son in Louisville can.”

Henry acknowledged the Predators will not receive as substantial a rights fee from Scripps as they did from Main Street. He believes, however, that the Scripps model is more sustainable and will pay off over time through expanded reach.

“From a financial standpoint, we’re going to get almost back to where we were in a very short time span,” Henry said. “But over time, we should get above that.”