How to Watch the 2025-2026 NBA Season: What streaming services do you need?

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The best NBA streaming deals at a glance:

The best in mainstream video games
Prime video only
$8.99/month
(save $6/month compared to Prime subscription)


For the first time in two decades, the NBA has new broadcast partners. That means that, like other sports teams, watching the games is about to get more complicated.
The new NBA season is about to begin, and whether you have it or not, you’ll need a streaming service or two to catch the action live. Between state sports networks, black sports, and national broadcasts, there’s a lot to cover. Buckle up, basketball fans. We’ve got your guide to watching the 2025-2026 NBA season, including all the best streaming deals.
When does the 2025-2026 NBA season start?
The NBA Sousotion says on Oct. 21 leading Primetime – Houston Rockets VS. The 82-year regular season ends on April 12, 2025.
What channels do I need to watch live NBA games this season?
The NBA’s long-running contract with TNT officially ended. This season, you’ll need NBC instead. After 23 long years, the league struck a new deal with NBC – the network and its broadcast partner, Pipi There will be 8,532 days between the last NBC broadcast of the NBA and the 2025-2026 open season. In addition to the games broadcast on NBC, there will be several games – alone to broadcast on the pillow.
In addition to NBC, the NBA also attacked Imond’s claim with Amazon this season. For the first time, Prime Video is getting a slice of the basketball schedule. It was only a matter of time, tbh. Prime Video will present exclusive Global Games coverage of 66 regular season games, as well as a new Black Friday NBA game, all games from the annual NBA Knockout Round of Tup, and select Playoff games.
In addition to NBC, Peacock, and Prime Video, you will also need ABC, espn, NBA TV, and, your regional network, as in years past. Here’s a breakdown of the standard TV schedule for national broadcasts:
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Sunday – ABC/ESPN and NBC/Peacock
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monday – Some kind of bird
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Tuesday – NBC / Peacock
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Wednesday – EspN
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Thursday – Prime Video
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Friday – Prime Video and ESPN
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Saturday – ABC / ESPN and Prime Video
How to watch NBA games this season without cable
National Broadcasting
There will be 247 national broadcasts this season, with games airing on ABC, SPN, NBC, Peacock, and Prime Video, whether or not you’re on cable. No cable? No worries. Peacock has covered NBC broadcasts and a separate peacock, and ESPN’s new direct streaming service has covered ESPN and ABC broadcasts. You can watch nearly 250 games this season on Peacock, ESPN Unlimited, and Prime Video alone.
Local coverage
Unfortunately, national broadcasts form a small part of the pure pures of the games. Most sports are broadcast in the Phila area through regional sports networks (RSNs). In these games, it will really depend on whether the team you want to watch is in the market or out of the market.
Market Games:
To watch market games, you will need access to your local RSN. Most of these networks (but not all) offer their own subscription broadcasts, such as fanduel sports network, epic sports network, or gotham sports. If you are not sure which RSN you need to look up for your local group, you can check the FAQs below.
The most direct way to access these RSNs is through their individual subscriptions, but not all RSNs have their own broadcast partner. For those who don’t, you’ll need a cabling method like FUBO or DirectV Stream, which can cost a pretty penny.
Emerging market games:
If you’re a fan of an Out-of-Market team, you’ll need NBA League Pass. League Pass Streams almost every regional stream of non-local teams. For example, if you live in New York City, you will be able to watch all the teams with NBA League Pass only knickers and nets. NBA League Pass costs $16.99 per month for viewing on one device with commercial features or $24.99 per month for viewing on up to three devices with three ports (no commercials).
What is an RSN, and which one do I need?
Unlike the NFL, which offers multi-billion dollar broadcasts for select games in the market, the NBA (along with the NHL and MLB) bundles things through regional sports networks (RSNS). These are specialized sports TV channels dedicated to the local or regional market. If you live in the same region as your favorite team, you will need to know which RSN broadcasts your team’s games. Some examples of RSNs are Fanduel Sports Network (which replaced bally sports), NBC sports, and sports promotion. Log into NBA Edit if you’re not sure what network your team plays on. For a complete list of RSNs for each group, see the FAQs below.
If you really care about your local group, many RSNs offer your subscription so you can tune in without cable. For example, fan duel Sports Network Southeast (including Atlanta Hawks and Memphis GrizzLies games) is $ 19.99 per month or $ 124.99 for the entire NBA season. Monumental Sports Network (including the Washington Wizards) is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. A quick Google search for your RSN group will let you know if there are alternative subscriptions available. Of course, this RSN subscription will not include games nationally on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, Prime Video, or NBA TV.
Best Live TV deals for NBA games
Best on ESPN and ABC sports: Save 16% on unlimited ESPN programming for the year
ESPN’s direct streaming service, launched this past summer, opens up access to all of ESPN’s networks and services for a single subscription. You’ll get to stream NBA games from ESPN and ABC (and many other sports and teams). It usually costs $29.99 per month, but if you commit for a year, you will save about 16% or about $60. Of course, you can watch more than just NBA games, which makes the annual plan suitable, especially for fans of many sports.
Best of NBC and Peacock Games: Save 17% on annual Peacock subscriptions
When the peacock is not working any special type (which it does a few times a year – keep a close eye on Black Friday), the best peacock deal for many people on any given day in the written year. When you prepay annually, you’ll end up keeping 12 months for the price of 10 months. A monthly subscription with ads usually costs $101.88), but paying more is $109.99 (which breaks down to $9.17 per month). That’s a total savings of 17%.
Amazing Offers
The Peacock Premium Plus Plan costs $169.99 per year (which breaks down to about $14.16 per month instead of $16.99) and offers ad-free content. Live games, however, will still include ads. If you’re signing up for a subscription specifically for NBA games, you might want to go with the cheaper option.
More peacock specials:
The best of Prime video games: Save $6 a month on Prime Video only
If you’re interested in Prime Video for NBA games, you probably don’t care about all the extras of being a prime member. In that case, you don’t need to pay $14.99 per month. You can simply subscribe to Prime Video as a standalone service for only $8.99 per month and save yourself $6 per month.
It’s true, Amazon makes it unnecessarily complicated to subscribe to premium video itself. When you go to sign up for a subscription, make sure you choose the option to “see more strategies” or “change strategies.” After that, navigate to choose the best video itself. You can still cancel whenever you want, just like you were a full membership.
Top video deals:
Best off-market games: Save over 40% on NBA League Pass Football
$109.99 per season with ads, $159.99 per season without ads
Similar to the NFL’s Hounday Ticket, minus the outrageous fees, NBA League Pass gives fans access to off-market games. Plus, you’ll get to enjoy games from NBA archives, analysis, documentaries, highlights, and more. Local games on NBA TV, as well as nationally broadcast games, will be broadcast live. You can enter black local black games three days after live broadcast and nationally broadcast games three hours later. It costs $16.99 or $24.99 per month, but if you pay for everything upfront, it will only cost you $109.99 or $159.99. The most expensive option unlocks ad-free viewing and the ability to surf on three devices at the same time.