Less than a year after the Coyotes moved to Utah, the Vegas Golden Knights are officially going after the untapped Arizona market.
It’s a five-hour drive between Las Vegas and Tempe, where the Arizona Coyotes played in the now-infamous Mullett Arena. After spending the past year being the joke of the NHL, the team was bought by Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz.�
In Arizona, hockey fans have to pick another team to cheer for, and the Vegas Golden Knights were quick to realize it.
Yesterday, the 2023 Stanley Cup champions announced that they will broadcast 55 games in Arizona for fans in Tucson and Phoenix.
Read the official press release here:
“VEGAS (September 26, 2024) – The Vegas Golden Knights and Scripps Sports announced today, September 26, 55-game broadcast schedules that will bring Golden Knights hockey to fans in the Phoenix and Tucson markets on Arizona 61 and Arizona 58, respectively. Arizona 61 and Arizona 58 are the sister stations of the ABC affiliates in those markets, owned and operated by the E.W. Scripps Company.
Fans throughout the state of Arizona also will have the opportunity to watch every Scripps Sports VGK broadcast through KnightTime+, the official streaming platform of the Vegas Golden Knights. Fans can learn more and subscribe to KnightTime+ at knighttimeplus.com.
«We are thrilled to expand the Realm of fans who can watch our local broadcast and appreciate our partners at Scripps Sports for helping make this a reality,» said Vegas Golden Knights President and CEO Kerry Bubolz. «Having our games available for free over the air, or through KnightTime+, is a win for hockey fans in Arizona.»
Fans in Arizona will be able to follow one of the NHL’s most successful franchises in the Golden Knights, who have qualified for the playoffs in six of their seven seasons, reached the penultimate round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs four times and won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
«As the intense fandom around hockey grows, we know how important it is for the Vegas Golden Knights to reach their expanding fanbase on every device and platform,» said Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor. «These new Scripps Sports-produced local broadcasts, combined with Knight Time+, will make sure that fans in the Phoenix and Tucson markets never have to miss a game.»
The Golden Knights will celebrate these new broadcasts by hosting youth ice hockey and ball hockey clinics and a VGK watch party on Saturday, October 19 at AZ Ice in Gilbert, AZ. VGK youth hockey staff and members of the VGK Cast will be in attendance.
Events will include ice hockey clinics for ages 5 to 8 (12:30 p.m. PT) and ages 9 to 12 (1:30 p.m. PT), a ball hockey clinic for all ages (12:30 p.m. PT) and a watch party at Park Tavern & Market for the Golden Knights game at Florida (3 p.m. PT). Registration is required for the on-ice clinics and is available here.”
Even if Jonathan Marchessault, Alec Martinez, Anthony Mantha, William Carrier, and Chandler Stephenson all left the Golden Knights this summer, the team could be on its way to have another amazing season. With the acquisitions they made at the last trade deadline and during the summer, such as Victor Olofsson, Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Ilya Samsonov, it should be entertaining to be a Golden Knights fan in the 2024-25 NHL season.
