TNT’s long term as an NBA broadcaster has ended, ushering in a brand new period of media rights that may reshape how followers watch the league. Starting with the 2025–26 season, the NBA’s nationwide package deal is cut up amongst three companions: Disney (ABC/ESPN), NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video. That means cord-cutters nonetheless have loads of choices to observe marquee video games, however retaining monitor of which platform carries which contest will take extra effort than previously.
NBC/Peacock will current as much as 100 regular-season video games, highlighted by Tuesday evening regional doubleheaders and a brand new Sunday-night showcase launching in January. Every sport NBC airs can even stream dwell on Peacock, which can add its personal unique Monday evening video games to the schedule.
Amazon Prime Video has carved out a complementary package deal that features 66 regular-season video games, each Play-In Tournament matchup, choose first- and second-round playoff video games, and in sure years a share of the Conference Finals. Prime Video additionally holds unique rights to the Emirates NBA Cup knockout rounds, including additional weight to its midseason protection.
Regional sports activities networks (RSNs) stay the hardest piece of the puzzle. These native channels nonetheless carry nearly all of NBA video games, but many—equivalent to Fox Sports, NBC Sports RSNs, YES Network, and Marquee Sports Network—are absent from the most well-liked streaming providers as a result of unresolved carriage disputes.
RSNs are much more essential now with the Emirates NBA Cup, the league’s midseason match. Group play begins October 31 and the knockout rounds wrap up on December 16, with most video games nonetheless proven on every crew’s native community alongside chosen nationwide broadcasts.
Whether you wish to chase the Cup or just comply with your own home crew, the very best method is to discover a service that carries your RSN and pair it with one of many nationwide platforms. A handful of groups nonetheless have over-the-air preparations, however these are more and more uncommon.
Here’s a information to all of your 2025–26 choices when the season suggestions off on October 21.
Over the air
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The excellent news is you may entry ABC without cost in case you have an over-the-air TV antenna (you’ll discover our top antenna picks here) and are throughout the radius of your native ABC affiliate’s broadcast tower. The unhealthy information is the community is scheduled to air solely about two dozen of this 12 months’s nationally televised video games. These, nevertheless, embody a number of the league’s marquee matchups, together with 5 Christmas Day video games.
You can watch the remaining video games with some mixture of the next providers.
Streaming service choices
Sling TV
Sling TV stays a versatile possibility for catching nationally televised NBA video games. The Orange plan prices $45.99/month and contains ESPN and ESPN2, with NBA TV obtainable by the Sports Extra add-on for $11. New subscribers usually get the primary month at a reduced fee (round ~$23). Sling has also rolled out a $4.99 Day Pass, which supplies 24-hour entry to its Orange channels, and you may add Sports Extra to that go as nicely.
DirectTV Stream
You can get ESPN, ESPN2, and and NBA TV by way of DirectTV Stream‘s Choice plan for $89.99 per month. RSN availability varies by location, so you’ll must enter your ZIP code throughout signup to see precisely which regional networks (if any) your package deal will carry.
DirecTV Stream additionally contains your native NBC affiliate in most markets, so that you’ll have the ability to catch NBC’s share of nationwide NBA broadcasts, equivalent to Tuesday doubleheaders and the Sunday-night showcase. But, as with different dwell TV providers, you’ll nonetheless want a separate Peacock subscription to stream Peacock-exclusive Monday evening video games.
Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV
Both Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV offer you entry to ABC and ESPN/ESPN2 for a flat price, however solely YouTube TV provides NBA TV, giving it the sting for hoop heads. Hulu + Live TV prices $82.99 a month with adverts or $95.99 a month with the No Ads plan (dwell broadcasts nonetheless carry commercials both method) and contains Hulu’s on-demand library, Disney+, and ESPN Select. YouTube TV prices $82.99 a month, discounted to $49.99 a month for the primary two months.
Both providers carry your native NBC affiliate in most markets, which implies you’ll have the ability to watch NBC’s slate of nationwide NBA broadcasts, together with Tuesday doubleheaders and the brand new Sunday-night showcase. However, you’ll want a separate subscription to catch Peacock-exclusive Monday evening video games.
With simply the one base channel package deal for every of those providers, you don’t get the customizability of Sling TV or DirecTV Stream, so preserve that in thoughts for those who plan to make use of your subscription past basketball season.
YouTube TV makes use of a small variety of menu sections to make navigation simpler.
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FuboTV
FuboTV provides ABC and ESPN in its $79.99-per-month Pro package deal, and also you get $20 off the primary month. This package deal additionally contains the regional sports activities networks NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California, which is nice information for those who’re a fan of the Kings, Warriors, Lakers, or Clippers. You can add NBA TV by buying the Sports Lite add-on for an extra $9.99 a month.
FuboTV additionally carries native NBC associates in most markets, so that you’ll have the ability to see NBC’s Tuesday evening doubleheaders and Sunday-night showcase video games. But as with different providers, Peacock-exclusive Monday evening video games aren’t included.
Fubo appeals to sports activities followers, and it contains NBA TV.
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Peacock
Peacock is now a must have for NBA followers below the league’s new media rights deal. A subscription prices $10.99 a month for the Premium plan or $16.99 a month for Premium Plus (with lighter adverts and further options). Peacock streams each NBA sport that airs on NBC; plus, a package deal of unique Monday-night video games. It can even carry NBC’s Tuesday evening doubleheaders and the brand new Sunday-night showcase starting in January, making it the one standalone service that delivers such a big share of the nationwide schedule.
ESPN
ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service launched this previous summer time, giving followers their first likelihood to observe the community’s full slate of video games and not using a cable or dwell TV bundle. The service provides two tiers: Select, at $11.99 a month (or $119.99 a 12 months) folds within the former ESPN+ library; Unlimited, at $29.99 a month (or $299.99 a 12 months), provides dwell entry to ESPN’s full lineup of channels together with ESPN on ABC broadcasts. Existing ESPN+ subscribers had been migrated to the Select tier robotically. A launch bundle additionally provides Unlimited with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99 a month for the primary 12 months. For NBA followers, meaning each ESPN-televised sport is now obtainable as a standalone streaming possibility.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video has additionally develop into a central participant within the NBA’s new media panorama. A subscription to Amazon Prime, which incorporates Prime Video, prices $14.99 a month or $139 a 12 months (Prime Video by itself is obtainable for $8.99 a month). Under its 11-year settlement with the NBA, Prime Video will stream 66 regular-season video games, together with marquee Friday-night matchups and, starting in January, Thursday-night doubleheaders as soon as the NFL season wraps. It additionally holds unique rights to all Play-In Tournament video games, the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup, and chosen first- and second-round playoff contests, in addition to a rotating share of the Conference Finals.
NBA League Pass
If you’re really hardcore for the hardwood, it’s best to contemplate a subscription to NBA League Pass, the league’s official streaming service. For $109.99 a 12 months or $16.99 per thirty days, you may watch each dwell out-of-market sport that isn’t being broadcast nationally on one of many 4 networks we’ve talked about.
A League Pass subscription lets you watch each sport feed (dwelling, away, cellular view, plus further languages and digital camera angles) in your TV, laptop, pill, and smartphone. Games can be found three hours after completion within the video archives. You additionally get anytime entry to a curated choice of “classic” video games.
For $159.99 a 12 months or $24.99 per thirty days, you may improve to NBA League Pass Premium, which lets you stream a sport on three gadgets without delay and watch all video games industrial free.
With an NBA League Pass subscription, you may stream dwell out-of-market video games to your TV, laptop, or cellular system.
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NBA Team Pass
That’s a giant funding for those who solely wish to comply with your favourite crew. NBA Team Pass is a less-expensive different. For $89.99 a 12 months, you get entry to all of your squad’s native broadcasts for each dwelling and away video games.
The rub is that NBA blackout guidelines nonetheless apply. If you reside in your crew’s “home” market—a Warriors fan residing within the San Francisco Bay Area, for instance—you continue to received’t have the ability to watch their video games even with a Team Pass subscription (this goes for League Pass as nicely). Your crew’s dwelling market, nevertheless, isn’t essentially outlined by your city’s metropolis limits.
In the NBA’s personal phrases, the league determines blackout zones “using zip code (if watching via a satellite television provider), a combination of zip code and cable system distribution territory (if watching via a cable television provider), or by the IP address associated with your internet connection or your mobile device’s GPS coordinates.”
That means this isn’t a cord-cutting possibility for everybody. You can see which groups should not obtainable in your space within the blackout part on this page while you select your subscription.
NBA streaming remains to be 50-50 ball
Streaming dwell NBA video games continues to be a blended bag for cord-cutters. The availability of nationwide broadcasts by streaming providers provides you a courtside seat for a number of the greatest matchups of the season. But native fanbases who wish to comply with their crew proceed to be left on the bench, for essentially the most half. Until streaming choices for regional sports activities networks develop into extra extensively obtainable, you may wish to mud off your radio.