The 2025-26 NBA season opened the league’s new 11-year US rights cycle, a $76 billion package that ended TNT’s 35-year run on Inside the NBA and added Amazon Prime Video as a new national partner. For US viewers the practical map is now three national broadcasters for nationally televised games, plus regional sports networks (RSNs) for in-market games of your home team, plus NBA League Pass for everything else.
Three national broadcasters, one season
| Broadcaster | What they have | How to access |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN / ABC | Sunday Night NBA, Christmas Day, NBA Finals (rotates) | Cable, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling Orange, ESPN+ (for selected ESPN-exclusive games), or over-the-air with antenna for ABC games |
| NBC / Peacock | Sunday games, Tuesday/Thursday primetime windows | Cable for NBC, Peacock Premium ($7.99/mo) for streaming-exclusive games |
| Amazon Prime Video | Thursday Night Basketball, Black Friday games, selected playoff rounds | Amazon Prime ($14.99/mo or $139/year) — Prime Video access is included |
NBC’s return to the NBA after a 23-year absence is the biggest schedule-format change since the league’s 2002 move to ESPN. NBC’s Roundball Rock theme returns. Many marquee weekend games will appear on the main NBC broadcast network and stream on Peacock simultaneously.
NBA League Pass: out-of-market access
NBA League Pass is the league’s direct-to-consumer service for fans who want to watch every out-of-market game live or on demand. Two tiers, both annual:
- Team Pass — single team, $149.99/season — every out-of-market game of one team.
- League Pass — every team, $179.99/season — every out-of-market game across the league.
- League Pass Premium — every team, ad-free, in-arena audio, $249.99/season.
League Pass does not include national TV games (those go to ESPN/ABC/NBC/Prime as outlined above) and does not include in-market games of your local team (which are blacked out and shown only on the local RSN). For an in-market viewer, League Pass works for “watch every other team in the league” — not for “watch your own team.”
RSNs and in-market viewing
If you want to watch your local team’s full season, you need that team’s regional sports network. RSN access in the US has fractured significantly during 2024-25 with Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy and the move of several teams to direct-to-consumer apps:
- Knicks/Rangers (MSG Network) — MSG+ direct-to-consumer ($29.99/mo) or cable.
- Lakers/Dodgers/Kings (Spectrum SportsNet LA / SportsNet) — cable on Spectrum or YouTube TV in market.
- Warriors/Giants/Athletics (NBC Sports Bay Area / California) — cable.
- Bulls/Hawks/White Sox/Blackhawks (Chicago Sports Network) — cable plus direct-to-consumer launching 2025-26.
- Many other teams — moved to FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports), which has both cable carriage and a direct-to-consumer subscription.
Check your team’s current RSN situation before subscribing to anything — the picture changed dramatically in late 2024 and continues to evolve.
What an NBA fan actually needs to subscribe to
For a US fan who wants to follow one specific team:
- The team’s RSN (varies by team — $0 to $30/month equivalent).
- NBA League Pass Team Pass ($149.99/season) — for out-of-market games where you cannot get the RSN.
- The national broadcasters (Peacock + Amazon Prime if you don’t already have them, plus ESPN+ for ESPN-exclusive games).
For a fan who follows the whole league:
- NBA League Pass ($179.99/season).
- Peacock + Amazon Prime + an ESPN-carrying live TV service.
There is no single subscription that gets you the entire NBA season. The fragmentation is a real consequence of the new rights deal.
Cross-reference: our NBA League Pass deep-dive covers the product itself in detail. UK readers — NBA coverage in the UK is on Sky Sports; see our UK NBA guide. For wider US sports references, see Methstreams, Sportsurge, and Crackstreams.
See also
For readers arriving via a stream2watch search: see our mystream2watch explainer (what the old user dashboard was and why it’s gone) and Stream2Watch alternatives (full legal broadcaster map across US, UK, and Germany).