Matthew Hutchings has resigned, as announced by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) on Friday. He had been the company’s chief operational officer and executive vice president since 2013.
The primary responsibility of Hutchings was as president and CEO of KSE Media Ventures, where he was in charge of the regional radio and television network Altitude Sports and Entertainment. Hutchings, who joined KSE in 2004, submitted his resignation internally earlier this month and departed on Friday.
“I am grateful for the professional opportunities and thrilling experiences that have come with my time at KSE,” Hutchings said in a news statement. “We have realized tremendous growth as a company and seen unprecedented success among our teams. I will be watching and cheering KSE on as they continue to lead the way in sports, broadcasting, and entertainment in Colorado and beyond.”
Today marks Hutchings’ last day of employment with the organization. The departure was disclosed internally earlier in the month. Throughout Altitude’s multi-year carrier battle with Comcast, which has prevented the network from being available on Denver’s largest cable provider, he has been the boss at the helm.
Since Altitude’s contracts with Comcast, DISH Network, and DirecTV ended in the summer of 2019, there has been a disagreement. Hutchings and other KSE officials stated at the time that Altitude would go out of business if they accepted the offers from the other providers. The network is still up and running years later, and DirecTV is the only big provider that managed to secure a deal.
Given that this week’s article in the Gazette on the issue included a comment from Hutchings and was the first update in a long time, the timing of the departure is intriguing. The story came after Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon tweeted about the team’s TV situation during Saturday night’s NBA All-Star Game festivities.
In other sports news, it appears that Altitude missed an opportunity to acquire Colorado Rockies rights when rival AT&T Sports Network Rocky Mountain failed. That did not transpire, and MLB will broadcast Rockies games directly to fans. The Rockies are just one of many professional sports clubs whose television agreements have dissolved recently.
The Golden Knights, who shared a network with the Rockies, will play 69 of their 82 regular season games this year on traditional over-the-air broadcasts that are accessible in Great Basin local markets. In addition to forming a partnership with Scripps Sports, the team also launched KnightTime+, a fan-only local streaming service. The NHL team is one of countless teams who have had to adapt to a new broadcast model because of the changing industry.
The Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets are owned of course by KSE, which owns the network. It appears that a direct-to-consumer product or over-the-air solution would be available to view the 2022 NHL champions and the 2023 NBA champions.
Hutchings departs Altitude without resolving the problem that has beset KSE for five years.