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Dallas Stars Sign 11 Year Television Rights Deal With Fox Sports Southwest

Fox Sports Southwest will be the television home of the Dallas Stars for the next decade plus.

The deal, announced today by the team, will ensure that all Stars games are televised not just within the Dallas market. It ensures that markets can be reached in most of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

That fits with the Stars’ stated goal of being the hockey team of the southwest region way back at the jersey unveiling a few summers ago. This is a logical step forward in that endeavor.

The flip side of this deal means no more games on TXA 21. That can be viewed both as a good thing (further reach with a bigger network in FSSW and ability to view the game outside of the DFW market) and a bad thing (not everyone gets FSSW, cutting out a local broadcast option on basic cable).

Here is the full press release from the team:

Dallas Stars, FOX Sports Southwest Announce New Long-Term Television Rights Agreement

Dallas Stars President and CEO Jim Lites, in conjunction with FOX Sports Southwest Senior Vice President and General Manager Jon Heidtke, today announced a new long-term television rights agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the new agreement, FOX Sports Southwest will be the exclusive regional television partner of the Dallas Stars and will facilitate the broadcast of all regionally televised Stars regular-season games. FOX Sports Southwest will also broadcast select first-round Stars games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“For over 20 years, FOX Sports Southwest has brought Stars hockey to our loyal fans in North Texas and across the entire region,” Dallas Stars Owner and Governor Tom Gaglardi said. “The expansive reach of the network allows us to connect with our fans outside of the state of Texas and grow the great game of hockey across the Southwest. As our young team continues to grow into a perennial Stanley Cup contender, we are thrilled to be continuing this great partnership for many years to come.”

“We’re pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with the Dallas Stars,” Heidtke said. “The Stars have been a cornerstone of our network for over two decades and have provided viewers many memorable moments. They’re an exciting team to watch. We look forward to bringing more games to passionate Stars fans and growing the team’s fan base across the Southwest region.”

The Stars television broadcast features the award-winning duo of play-by-play announcer Ralph Strangis and color analyst Daryl Reaugh. One of the top broadcast pairs in the National Hockey League, the duo of “Ralph and Razor” have broadcasted Stars games on FOX Sports Southwest for nearly two decades. The duo’s on-air work together has earned them multiple accolades over their tenure with the Stars, including six Lone Star Emmys, a Dallas Press Club Katie and four Associated Press awards. In addition to their work on the telecast, the pair has emceed several of the team’s pinnacle events such as the Stars logo and uniform unveiling, as well as the Mike Modano Jersey Retirement Ceremony.

FOX Sports Southwest’s comprehensive coverage includes “Stars Live” pregame and postgame shows before and after every game, hosted by Josh Bogorad and joined by a rotating panel including Brent Severyn, Craig Ludwig andStu Barnes. Julie Dobbs will serve as an ice-level reporter on FOX Sports Southwest for each home game as well as hosting “Stars Insider”, a weekly Dallas Stars magazine show which airs both in-season and at various times throughout the offseason.

FOX Sports Southwest and sister networks FOX Sports Oklahoma and FOX Sports New Orleans provide exclusive home team coverage of the NHL’s Dallas Stars; the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans; MLB’s Texas Rangers; the WNBA’s San Antonio Stars; Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans magazine shows; Big 12, SEC, ACC and Conference USA collegiate events; Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana high school sports; and national programming from FSN. The networks reach over 10 million cable and satellite TV homes in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and produce over 750 events and nearly 3,000 hours annually of local original sports programming in high-definition.

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