The NBA's New Orleans Pelicans have become the latest pro sports team to leave the bankrupt Bally Sports regional sports network, signing a multiyear deal to broadcast their games locally with Gray Television. 

Also read: NBA's Mavs, Pels, Pistons, Grizzlies and Thunder Appear To Be on the Bally Sports Chopping Block

According to Nola.com, the "vast majority" of Pels games will air on WVUE-TV Fox 8 and Bounce TV.

Also Read: Everything You Need To Know About the Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Bally operator Diamond Sports Group, now trying to emerge from a lengthy Chapter 11 restructuring, allowed its contracted NBA teams to experiment with 10 games toward the end of the 2023-24 season, and the Pelicans ran some of their games on Gray stations. 

Should it ultimately escape liquidation, Diamond will could lose up to four more NBA teams, with the Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary asking teams to take haircuts on their local TV rights fees of between 30% - 40%.

The Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons are other teams that could soon bolt Bally for similar broadcast TV relationships. 

Last year, the Phoenix Suns started this exodus when the team eschewed a renewal agreement with Bally Sports to move to Gray TV. 

For the pro teams looking at life beyond bankrupt regional cable network Bally Sports, moving to free over-the-air broadcast television is a tradeoff of a sure regional-sports-network paycheck vs. expanded reach. 

The New Orleans Pelicans, which is one of three NBA franchises contracted with Bally Sports to carve out an arrangement to show 10 games on local broadcast TV this season, experienced the upside of that equation on Friday night. 

With the Pels facing the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Gray Television's WVUE-TV (channel 8), simulcast on Bounce TV (channel 8.2), the telecast averaged a 7.4 rating and 50,000 local viewers, according to Gray, citing Nielsen data. (Editor's note: Gray's WVUE originally spoke to local New Orleans paper the Times-Picayune about this ratings story.)

That's more than three times the audience of the biggest Bally Sports viewership, which tops out at about a 2.0 rating. Comparing apples to oranges, it also usurped the local performance on ABC last June of the NBA Finals, which averaged a 7.24 rating locally in the Big Easy market. 

Kicking the tires on that latter comparison, offered up by Gray, a rep for the station group conceded with us that it's strange to compare the local Pelicans broadcast to a national feed of the Finals, which didn't feature the Pels last June.

"But it would be huge news if a Washington Commanders game ever had more viewers than the Super Bowl in the DC market," the rep responded. 

Fine. 

The NBA has carved out an arrangement with Sinclair Broadcast Group bankrupt subsidiary, Diamond Sports Group, which manages the Bally channels, to reduce rights fees for its Bally Sports teams this ongoing season. But once next season starts, the teams are free from Bally Sports and can pursue any local TV rights arrangement they wish.

A few NBA teams, including the Pels, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Atlanta Hawks, are exercising a clause that lets them also show up to 10 of their games this season in the local broadcast market. 

Gray Television continued to add local sports to its stations, announcing that its WVUE will televise 10 New Orleans Pelicans basketball games this season.

The Atlanta Hawks last week announced that 10 of its NBA regular season games would be airing on Gray stations.

Pelicans games will be airing on WVUE’s main signal, which normally carries Fox network programming, and on one of its digital channels, which carries Bounce, the E.W. Scripps-owned digital broadcast network.

Gray will also televise Pelicans games on stations in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Monroe and Alexandria, Louisiana; Biloxi, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Meridian, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama.

Gray said it will seek stations in other markets to also air the games.

Also Read: Gray TV Talking To More Sports Teams and Leagues

The move comes as cable regional sports networks are losing viewers to cord-cutting and teams and leagues are turning to broadcast for greater reach.

“The Pelicans welcome the opportunity to partner with Gray Television in this 10-game deal that will provide over-the-air viewing access to Pelicans games for more than 3 million households and over seven million people across the Gulf South region,” New Orleans Pelicans president Dennis Lauscha said.

In addition to their over-the-air signals, Gray notes that its stations are also carried by major cable and satellite distributors.

Calling the Pelicans broadcasts will be play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers, former NBA star and color analyst Antonio Daniels and sideline reporter Jennifer Hale.

“We know people in this region are passionate about their sports. We are thrilled to partner with the Pelicans and make these games available for all fans,” said New Orleans resident and Pelicans fan Sandy Breland, who is also Gray’s chief operating officer.