The NBA season tips off next month, and many fans have been vocal about their frustration with the fragmentation of sports. This season, the NBA begins its first year of a new 11-year, $76 billion national TV deal, with games streaming on ESPN, Peacock, and Prime Video. Beyond those three platforms, fans who want to stream their local team will also need to subscribe to their RSN’s streamer.
During Wednesday’s Board of Governors press conference, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked (28:10) about what he thinks regarding the league’s accessibility and how he thinks it would shape the next generation of fans, replying:
“I think about it a lot. I will say, I saw the story your publication ran. You took all the different streaming services and added them up and what those costs would be. I look at it a little bit differently, because most people can only consume so many games. By way of one example, in these new media deals, we’re going from essentially 15 exposures on broadcast television to 75. So to the extent someone wants to put little rabbit ears on their television, you can still get 75 marquee games in essence for free in the marketplace.
I’d say in addition to that, and this is an ongoing issue for the league, there’s a huge amount of our content that people essentially consume for free. This is very much a highlights-based sport, so Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, you name it, any service, the New York Times for that matter, to the extent that your content is not behind a paid firewall, there’s an enormous amount of content out there. YouTube, another example that is advertising based that consumers can consume.
I think this is a new world now of streaming media. I think we’re paying a lot of attention to that. It was one of the discussions we had with our media partners, not just the cost of the games — and I think most people are conditioned to paying a certain amount for high-value content — but also the discovery of those games,” (H/T transcript by JonesOnTheNBA).
In the past, Silver has been critical of the state of the NBA’s Regional Sports Network model, stating that it was “broken” last year. Since then, more teams have transitioned to a hybrid model, allowing fans to subscribe to direct-to-consumer streaming packages or watch for free with an antenna. Beyond the hybrid model, Silver reportedly plans to increase accessibility of local games by launching a national streaming platform by the beginning of the 2027-28 season.
As for the national games, with the NBA’s new deal, the weekly watch guide for fans this season is:
- Sunday: ABC (ESPN app) | NBC (Peacock)
- Monday: Peacock
- Tuesday: NBC | Peacock
- Wednesday: ESPN
- Thursday: Prime Video
- Friday: Prime Video | ESPN
- Saturday: Prime Video | ABC (ESPN app)
With 247 national games leaguewide in 2025, that’s 75 more than last season’s 172. Adding NBC to the fold, the NBA now has two national partners on free broadcast TV. However, it is worth noting that not every team has a national game on NBC or ABC, and some markets do not offer every local game on free TV.
USA Today ranked teams by their national TV schedule, and several teams, including the Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, and Brooklyn Nets, among others, are not playing any of theirs on free TV. This imbalance means fans in those markets have to pay for access to those games behind a paywall.
With the NBA attracting a younger audience, the commissioner defends the importance of social media access, especially with 40% sports fans going digital only. Silver recognizes this, saying that the NBA is a “highlights-based sport,” but for fans facing rising prices for full-game coverage, it doesn’t quell the concerns.
Many fans are left paying hefty subscriptions to four or more streaming services, and that doesn’t include any other exclusive games or content featured on the league’s 24/7 network, NBA TV. Additionally, the product on the court has to capture the attention of viewers for fans to pay “a certain amount for high-value content,” as Silver stated.
The rise of fragmentation and the cost of pay TV have led to many fans finding alternative ways to watch. Earlier this month, the world’s largest sports piracy streamer, Streameast, was shut down. Amassing over 1.6 billion visits in the past year, it was a popular destination for sports fans to illegally bypass subscription fees to watch games. The site and its 80 associated domains drew in millions of users with illegal streams of the NBA, NFL, UFC, UEFA, FIFA World Cup, and other top leagues.
On Tuesday, October 21, the 2025-26 NBA season begins, streaming live on Peacock. It will be a pivotal moment, placing the NBA at center court in its digital shift, hoping for a slam dunk as it enters its streaming-first future.