University of Hawaii leaves Spectrum Sports for free over-the-air broadcasts

It will be much easier to watch University of Hawaii athletics this season, both in and out of the state.

Beginning this season, the University of Hawaii will move its broadcasts from Spectrum Sports to Hawaii News Now, a group of over-the-air stations owned by Gray Media. Gray will also have the opportunity to distribute some Hawaii programming on its stations outside Hawaii.

“This partnership is about maximizing exposure for our programs and ensuring every fan in Hawai’i and beyond can watch our games,” said UH Athletics Director Matt Elliott in a press release.

Broadcasts on Hawaii News Now will include 110 home sporting events per year, including all available football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, and women’s volleyball games, along with a select number of baseball, softball, and women’s soccer events.

The announcement builds on changes made last season, when football broadcasts moved from pay-per-view to cable on Spectrum Sports. Outside Hawaii, broadcasts moved from the mobile-only Team1 Sports app to the more accessible free Mountain West app. The Mountain West is also in the process of launching a new, and likely paid, direct-to-consumer streaming service through the app for this upcoming season.

The University of Hawaii is part of a long list of sporting entities that have worked to make their sports properties more accessible in recent years. The old pay-per-view broadcasts long helped fund the extra travel required for other schools to play at Hawaii. This new partnership is expected to return the university $7.5 million a year, up from $3.2 million in the previous pay-per-view-focused deal with Spectrum. In addition, the university will receive additional media revenue by moving its athletics entirely to the Mountain West. Outside of football, Hawaii has long been part of the Big West, which has a far less lucrative media rights deal.

Several NBA and NHL teams have made similar decisions in recent years, including the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, which partnered with Gray Media to move all of their broadcasts over the air. Teams that have made the move have publicly expressed satisfaction with their decision despite earning less revenue than was the case through traditional RSNs.