How to stream the 2025-26 NBA season
TNT’s long career as an NBA broadcaster has come to an end, ushering in a new era of media rights that will reshape the way fans watch the league. Starting with the 2025-2026 season, the NBA’s national package is divided between three partners: Disney (ABC/ESPN), NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video. This means that cord cutters still have plenty of options for watching big-name matches, but keeping track of which platform is offering which contest will take more effort than in the past.
NBC/Peacock will feature up to 100 regular season games, highlighted by regional Tuesday night doubleheaders and a new Sunday night showcase launching in January. Every game broadcast by NBC will also be broadcast live on Peacock, which will add its own exclusive Monday night games to the schedule.
Amazon Prime Video has put together an add-on package that includes 66 regular season games, every Play-In tournament game, select first- and second-round playoff games and, in some years, a share of the conference finals. Prime Video also holds exclusive rights to the Emirates NBA Cup Round of 16, adding extra weight to its mid-season coverage.
Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) remain the most difficult piece of the puzzle. These local channels still broadcast the majority of NBA games, but many, like Fox Sports, NBC Sports RSN, YES Network and Marquee Sports Network, are missing from the most popular streaming services due to unresolved carriage conflicts.
RSNs are now even bigger with the Emirates NBA Cup, the league’s mid-season tournament. Group matches begin on October 31 and the round of 16 ends on December 16, with most matches still broadcast on each team’s local network alongside some national broadcasts.
Whether you want to chase the Cup or simply follow your local team, the best approach is to find a service that offers your RSN and pair it with one of the national platforms. A handful of teams still have live arrangements, but these are increasingly rare.
Here’s a guide to all your options for 2025-2026 when the season begins on October 21.
By air
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The good news is that you can access ABC for free if you have an over-the-air TV antenna (you’ll find our top antenna picks here) and are within the broadcast tower radius of your local ABC affiliate. The bad news is that the network is only expected to air about 20 nationally televised games this year. These, however, include some of the league’s marquee clashes, including five Christmas Day matches.
You can watch the remaining matches with a combination of the following services.
Streaming Service Options
Sling TV
Sling TV remains a flexible option for watching nationally televised NBA games. The Orange plan costs $45.99/month and includes ESPN and ESPN2, with NBA TV available through the Sports Extra add-on for $11. New subscribers often get the first month at a discounted rate (around $23). Sling also rolled out a $4.99 day pass, which offers 24-hour access to its Orange channels, and you can also add Sports Extra to this pass.
DirectTV Stream
You can get ESPN, ESPN2, and NBA TV through DirectTV Stream’s Choice plan for $89.99 per month. RSN availability varies by location, so you’ll need to enter your zip code when signing up to see exactly which regional networks (if any) your plan will carry.
DirecTV Stream also includes your local NBC affiliate in most markets, so you’ll be able to catch NBC’s share of national NBA broadcasts, such as Tuesday doubleheaders and the Sunday night showcase. But, as with other live TV services, you’ll still need a separate Peacock subscription to stream Peacock-exclusive Monday night games.
Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV
Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV give you access to ABC and ESPN/ESPN2 for a flat fee, but only YouTube TV offers NBA TV, giving it the edge for hoopheads. Hulu + Live TV costs $82.99 per month with ads or $95.99 per month with the No Ads plan (live streams still contain ads in both cases) and includes Hulu’s on-demand library, Disney+ and ESPN Select. YouTube TV charges $82.99 per month, discounted to $49.99 per month for the first two months.
Both services carry your local NBC affiliate in most markets, which means you’ll be able to watch NBC’s slate of national NBA broadcasts, including Tuesday doubleheaders and the new Sunday night showcase. However, you will need a separate subscription to catch the Peacock-exclusive Monday Night Games.
With just one basic channel package for each of these services, you don’t get the customization of Sling TV or DirecTV Stream, so keep that in mind if you plan to use your subscription beyond basketball season.
YouTube TV uses a small number of menu sections for easy navigation.
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FuboTV
FuboTV offers ABC and ESPN in its Pro plan for $79.99 per month, and you get $20 off the first month. This package also includes regional sports networks NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California, which is great news if you’re a fan of the Kings, Warriors, Lakers or Clippers. You can add NBA TV by purchasing the Sports Lite add-on for an additional $9.99 per month.
FuboTV also carries local NBC affiliates in most markets, so you’ll be able to see NBC’s Tuesday night doubleheaders and Sunday night exhibition games. But as with other services, Peacock-exclusive Monday night games are not included.
Fubo appeals to sports fans and includes NBA TV.
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Peacock
Peacock is now a must-have for NBA fans under the league’s new media rights deal. A subscription costs $10.99 per month for the Premium plan or $16.99 per month for Premium Plus (with lighter ads and additional features). Peacock streams every NBA game broadcast on NBC; plus, an exclusive Monday night game package. It will also carry NBC’s Tuesday night doubleheaders and new Sunday night programming starting in January, making it the only standalone service to offer such a large share of the national programming.
ESPN
ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service launched last summer, giving fans their first chance to watch the network’s entire game without cable or a live TV package. The service offers two levels: Select, at $11.99 per month (or $119.99 per year) folds into the old ESPN+ library; Unlimited, at $29.99 per month (or $299.99 per year), adds live access to ESPN’s full channel lineup as well as ESPN on ABC broadcasts. Existing ESPN+ subscribers have been automatically migrated to the Select tier. An introductory plan also offers Unlimited with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99 per month for the first year. For NBA fans, that means every game televised by ESPN is now available as a standalone streaming option.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video has also become a central player in the NBA’s new media landscape. A subscription to Amazon Prime, which includes Prime Video, costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year (Prime Video alone is available for $8.99 per month). As part of its 11-year deal with the NBA, Prime Video will broadcast 66 regular-season games, including Friday night marquee games and, starting in January, Thursday night doubleheaders once the NFL season concludes. It also holds the exclusive rights to AAll Play-In tournament games, NBA Cup Round of 16, and select first- and second-round playoff contests, plus a rotating share of the Conference Finals.
NBA League Pass
If you’re truly passionate about the hardwood, you should consider signing up for a subscription to NBA League Pass, the league’s official streaming service. For $109.99 per year or $16.99 per month, you can watch every live out-of-market game that isn’t nationally broadcast on one of the four networks we mentioned.
A League Pass subscription lets you watch every game stream (home view, away view, mobile, plus additional languages and camera angles) on your TV, computer, tablet and smartphone. Games are available three hours after completion in the video archives. You also get anytime access to a curated selection of “classic” games.
For $159.99 per year or $24.99 per month, you can upgrade to NBA League Pass Premium, which lets you stream a game on three devices at once and watch all games ad-free.
With an NBA League Pass subscription, you can stream out-of-market games live on your TV, computer or mobile device.
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NBA team pass
It’s a big investment if you just want to follow your favorite team. NBA Team Pass is a less expensive alternative. For $89.99 per year, you get access to all your team’s local broadcasts for home and away games.
The problem is that the NBA blackout rules still apply. If you live in your team’s “home” market — a Warriors fan residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example — you still won’t be able to watch their games even with a Team Pass subscription (this also goes for League Pass). However, your team’s home market isn’t necessarily defined by your city limits.
In the NBA’s own words, the league determines blackout areas “using zip code (if watching through a satellite TV provider), a combination of zip code and cable system delivery territory (if watching through a cable TV provider), or by the IP address associated with your Internet connection or the GPS coordinates of your mobile device.” »
That means it’s not a cord-cutting option for everyone. You can see which teams are not available in your region in the ban section on this page when choosing your subscription.
NBA streaming is still a 50-50 ball
Live streaming of NBA games continues to be a mixed bag for cord cutters. The availability of national broadcasts via streaming services gives you a seat pitchside for some of the biggest clashes of the season. But local fans who want to follow their team mostly continue to be left on the bench. Until streaming options for regional sports networks become more widely available, you may want to dust off your radio.
