It seems the Dallas Stars are putting a stake in the two-year experiment that was Victory+.
According to a report by Dallas Stars beat writer Sam Nestler in DLLS, the team plans to move its local broadcasts from Victory+, a free streaming service partly owned by the franchise, to Prime Video next season. The news comes as Victory+, which launched just two years ago, has lost several media rights deals in a short period after falling behind on rights payments to teams and leagues.
Earlier this month, the Texas Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, and NWSL all left Victory+ in quick succession. The company’s board subsequently removed Victory+’s CEO as the streamer looked to reposition for the future. At the time, it appeared as if Victory+ would keep the remainder of its deals in place. The streamer still had agreements with the Stars, the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream, and League One Volleyball.
Now, per Nestler, Victory+ appears to be on its last leg.
“Not all details are known, but signs point toward the end of Victory+ as a whole, not just for the Stars,” Nestler writes.
The Stars will now reportedly shift games to Amazon’s Prime Video, joining the Seattle Kraken as one of two NHL teams to host its local broadcasts on the platform. Users in the Dallas market would require a Prime Video subscription, which runs $8.99 per month standalone but is included at no additional cost in a standard Amazon Prime subscription, to watch Stars broadcasts next season. While the move would increase the cost of watching the Stars since Victory+ was a free, ad-supported streamer, the $8.99 monthly price would still fall well below the usual price point of local NHL, MLB, or NBA direct-to-consumer offerings, which can often approach $15 or $20 per month.
Nestler adds that “there have been a few rumors about other networks becoming part of the plan as well,” though nothing has been confirmed. Teams will often pair a direct-to-consumer offering with a limited number of games simulcast on over-the-air broadcast networks within their local market. This is often called a “stream and beam” strategy and is designed to provide a bit more reach for local broadcasts than airing exclusively on a streamer.
Whatever the case with the Stars, it appears that the experiment of a free streaming model for local sports, supported solely by advertising revenue, will be short-lived.