TNT unexpectedly pulled its broadcast of the Florida Panthers' season finale, so production and airing responsibilities reverted to Scripps. The switch affects viewers and highlights coordination risks and contractual fragility between networks and rights holders in live sports coverage.
Florida Panthers The Wait Is Almost Over: Florida Panthers Are Back This Month George Richards, FHN Publisher Follow Published : September 1, 2026 SHARE Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter Credit: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect The long summer is about done: The Florida Panthers are almost back. Today is Sept. 1, with the Panthers reporting to camp in the coming weeks. The Panthers play their first preseason game on Sept. 20 — with the regular season kicking off on Sept. 29 in Raleigh against the newly crowned Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. Starting today, there will be NHL hockey for the next 10 months. The Panthers hope they play in all of them. This has been Florida’s longest offseason since 2019 when the team last missed the postseason. That 2019 offseason was filled with change: Joel Quenneville was hired as the team’s new coach, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky headlined a large free agent signing class. Since then, the Panthers made it to the postseason a franchise-record six straight times with three trips to the Stanley Cup Final. Florida won it all in 2024 and 2025. The past three summers have been short ones for the Panthers with the team getting little time to settle into their offseason work. This one has been different. The Panthers last played on April 15, their 8-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings capping a three-game winning streak to end the season. It was too little, way too late: The Panthers went from being the two-time defending Cup champs to missing the playoffs by 15 points. Injuries, of course, played a huge role in Florida’s rough 2025-26 season with Matthew Tkachuk, Sasha Barkov, Seth Jones, Sam Reinhart , and Brad Marchand missing big chunks of the season. Florida is expected to come into training camp on Sept. 17 relatively healthy save for Marchand who is expected to miss some time at the start of the season after having surgery in August . Per FanDuel Sportsbook, the Panthers head into September the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup in 2027 at plus-650. The Colorado Avalanche and Hurricanes are next at +750. ON DECK: FLORIDA PANTHERS OFFSEASON NHL Free Agency: Opened July 1 Panthers Rookie Camp: Est. Sept. 13; Fort Lauderdale Panthers Training Camp: Starts Sept. 17; Fort Lauderdale Panthers Preseason (Four Games): Starts Sept. 20 vs. Carolina Hurricanes 2026-27 NHL Season Opener: Florida at Carolina Hurricanes; Sept. 29, 5 p.m. (ESPN) 2026-27 NHL Home Opener: Minnesota Wild at Florida; Oct. 10, 6 p.m. (Scripps) Full 2026-27 Florida Panthers Schedule Related Topics: Florida Panthers panthers training camp Stay in the know Sign up for our newsletter for the latest Panthers news, analysis, and Florida hockey updates delivered straight to your inbox. Arrives Weekly Subscribe Subscribe
Curated by Taleb Kabbara · Source: floridahockeynow.com
TNT, Florida Panthers, Scripps
TNT: TNT is a television network that dropped coverage of the Florida Panthers' finale in this story.
Florida Panthers: Florida Panthers is a professional hockey team whose season finale lost TNT coverage and whose game was moved back to Scripps.
Scripps: Scripps is a media company that regained broadcast rights to the Florida Panthers' finale after TNT dropped coverage.
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