NBA Broadcasters Expand Streaming Coverage for 2026-27 Season

Basketball fans will have multiple ways to watch the NBA during the 2026-27 season, with ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, and other streaming services sharing national coverage. The expanded distribution follows a season of strong audience figures and a multiyear broadcast agreement designed to bring games to traditional television and digital platforms.

According to the 2026-27 viewing guide published by Yahoo Sports on October 20, fans without cable can access selected national broadcasts through services including DIRECTV, Fubo, Peacock, and the ESPN app. NBA TV will also carry selected games, while regional sports networks will provide coverage for participating teams.

The weekly schedule assigns Sunday games to ABC, the ESPN app, NBC, and Peacock; Monday games to Peacock; Tuesday games to NBC and Peacock; and Wednesday games to ESPN and the ESPN app. Amazon Prime Video is scheduled to carry Thursday games, while Friday and Saturday lineups combine Amazon Prime Video with ESPN platforms or ABC.

Regional coverage includes Altitude Sports for the Denver Nuggets, Chicago Sports Network for the Chicago Bulls, ClipperVision for the Los Angeles Clippers, and Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network for the New Orleans Pelicans. Additional teams listed in the guide include the Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, and San Antonio Spurs.

NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video are also entering the new season after reporting substantial audiences during their first year as NBA broadcast partners. A separate report on the networks' plans described efforts to improve production, expand marquee-game coverage, and build on the audience gains recorded across the league's television and streaming partners.

Justin Byczek, NBC Sports' Executive Vice President of Programming and Rights Management, emphasized the network's goal of improving its coverage in its second season.

"Let's be better than we were in year two," said Justin Byczek, NBC Sports' Executive Vice President of Programming and Rights Management.

Byczek said the organizations involved were working toward a common objective as NBC Sports sought to develop its presentation and attract larger audiences. The network's first season included coverage across NBC, Telemundo, and Peacock.

NBC Sports averaged 2.8 million viewers across 100 regular-season games, according to the report. Its coverage averaged 8.8 million viewers for the All-Star game and 10.8 million for the Western Conference Finals.

Amazon Prime Video averaged 1.0 million viewers across 67 regular-season games. The service also averaged 3.07 million viewers for the NBA Cup Championship game, while Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons attracted 6.53 million viewers.

The NBA reported that 170 million people watched regular-season games across ABC, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC, Peacock, and NBA TV, marking its highest regular-season audience reach in 24 years. Across the first two playoff rounds, average viewership reached 4.5 million, the league's highest figure for that stage in 29 years.

Jared Stacy, Amazon Prime Video's Vice President of Global Live Sports Production, said the experience gained during the launch season should help the production teams improve their broadcasts.

"The biggest thing about going into season two is it's not season one," said Jared Stacy, Amazon Prime Video's Vice President of Global Live Sports Production.

Stacy said staff members now have more experience working together and greater familiarity with the equipment introduced during the first season. He expects those improvements to affect the quality and consistency of the broadcasts.

"The launch year comes with a lot of complexity. A lot of people hadn't worked together before with a lot of new equipment. This year, everyone comes in with a year under their belt with familiarity and a lot of reps working together. So I feel like there is going to be a natural step forward in the way our presentation looks and sounds."

Amazon Prime Video is scheduled to carry 67 regular-season games, the NBA Cup knockout rounds and championship game, and the NBA Play-In Tournament. The service is also set to receive exclusive rights to the Eastern Conference Finals under the arrangement described in the report.

NBC Sports plans to feature several extended game schedules during the season, including quadrupleheaders on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day. The network also plans doubleheaders on selected Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays, with Sunday scheduling designed to increase visibility for its prime-time coverage.

Byczek said NBC Sports sees national holidays as opportunities to build broader interest in the league throughout the day.

"Can we create larger national enthusiasm with the league around Opening Day? We believe we can," said Byczek.

The network's approach includes grouping prominent matchups into larger broadcast windows, similar to the NBA's established Christmas Day schedule. NBC Sports also plans to coordinate its programming with the league to support its national game lineup.

"We believe we can be onto something about stretching that day out," said Byczek, "and creating more of a celebration across the league and building into prime time."

Amazon Prime Video expects strong audiences for its featured games but has not issued specific projections. Stacy said the network anticipates its largest audiences around the most prominent matchups.

"It's too early to give projections," said Stacy. "But we're obviously expecting our largest audiences around those games."

The NBA's broadcasting arrangements are part of an 11-year, $76 billion agreement involving NBC Sports, Amazon Prime Video, and ESPN/ABC that runs through the 2035-36 season, according to the report. The agreement gives the league a combination of traditional television distribution and streaming coverage across its regular season and postseason.