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The best NBA streaming deals at a glance:
Best for Prime Video Games
Prime Video only
$8.99/month
(save $6/month compared to Prime membership)
For the first time in more than two decades, the NBA has new broadcast partners. This means that, like in other sports leagues, watching games is about to get even more complicated.
A new NBA season is about to begin, and whether or not you still have cable, you’ll need a streaming service or two to catch the action live. Between regional sports networks, blackout games and national broadcasts, we have 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 season officially begins on October 21 with a prime-time doubleheader: Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers. The 82-game regular season will end on April 12, 2025.
What channels do I need to watch live NBA games this season?
The NBA’s long-running contract with TNT is officially done. This season you’ll need NBC instead. After 23 long years, the league has reached a new deal with NBC: The network and its streaming counterpart, Peacock, will broadcast up to 100 regular-season games on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. There will be 8,532 days between the last NBA broadcast on NBC and the opening of the 2025-2026 season. In addition to the matches broadcast on NBC, there will also be several matches exclusively streaming on Peacock.
Besides NBC, the NBA also reached a historic deal with Amazon this season. For the first time, Prime Video is getting a piece of the basketball schedule. It was only a matter of time, TBH. Prime Video will feature exclusive global coverage of 66 regular season games, plus a new NBA Black Friday game, all of this year’s NBA Cup Round of 16 games, the play-in tournament and select playoff games.
In addition to NBC, Peacock and Prime Video, you’ll also need ABC, ESPN, NBA TV and, of course, your regional sports network, as in previous years. Here is an overview of the general television schedule of national broadcasts:
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Sunday – ABC/ESPN and NBC/Peacock
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Monday – Peacock
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Tuesday – NBC/Peacock
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Wednesday – ESPN
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THURSDAY – Main 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 broadcasts
There will be 247 national broadcasts this season, with games broadcast on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Prime Video, up from 172 last season. As noted above, even if you have cable, you’ll still need Peacock and Prime Video to watch these exclusive games. No cable? Carefree. Peacock has you covered with NBC broadcasts as well as Peacock exclusives, and ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service has you covered with ESPN and ABC broadcasts. You can watch nearly 250 games this season with Peacock, ESPN Unlimited and Prime Video alone.
Local broadcasts
Unfortunately, national broadcasts represent only a small fraction of all matches. Most matches are broadcast locally via Regional Sports Networks (RSNs). For these games, a lot of it will depend on whether or not the team you want to watch is on or off the market.
Games on the market:
To watch matches in the market, you will need access to your local RSN. Many of these networks (but not all) offer their own streaming subscriptions, such as FanDuel Sports Network, Monumental Sports Network, or Gotham Sports. If you are unsure which RSN you need to monitor your local team, you can check the FAQ below.
The most direct way to access these RSNs is through their individual subscription offerings, but each RSN does not have its own streaming counterpart. For those who don’t, you’ll need a cable alternative like Fubo or DirecTV Stream, which can cost a pretty penny.
Out-of-market games:
If you’re a fan of an out-of-market team, you’ll need NBA League Pass. League Pass streams virtually all regional broadcasts for teams not in your local market. For example, if you live in New York, you will be able to watch each team through NBA League Pass. except the Knicks and the Nets. NBA League Pass costs $16.99 per month to watch on one device with ads or $24.99 per month to watch on up to three devices with in-arena streams (no ads).
What is an RSN and which one do I need?
Unlike the NFL, which offers national broadcasts of most games with market-specific plays, the NBA (along with the NHL and MLB) complicates things with regional sports networks (RSNs). These are essentially sports TV channels dedicated to a local market or geographic area. 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 Altitude Sports. Head over to the NBA schedule if you’re not sure which network your team is playing on. For a complete list of each team’s RSNs, see the FAQ below.
If you really only care about your local team, many RSNs offer subscriptions that let you tune in without cable. For example, Fan Duel Sports Network Southeast (which includes Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies games) costs $19.99 per month or $124.99 for the entire NBA season. Monumental Sports Network (which includes the Washington Wizards) costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. A quick Google search for your team’s RSN will let you know if a separate subscription is available. Of course, these RSN subscriptions will not include games broadcast nationally on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, Prime Video or NBA TV.
The best live TV streaming deals for NBA games
Best for ESPN and ABC Games: Save 16% on the ESPN Unlimited Annual Plan
ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service, launched last summer, provides access to all of ESPN’s networks and services in a single subscription. You’ll be able to stream NBA games from ESPN and ABC (along with many other sports and leagues). It typically costs $29.99 per month, but if you commit to a full year, you’ll save around 16%, or almost $60. Of course, you can watch a lot more than just NBA games, which makes the annual plan worthwhile, especially for fans of multiple sports.
Best for NBC and Peacock Games: Save 17% on Peacock Annual Subscription
When Peacock doesn’t offer any sort of special (which it does several times a year – keep an eye out for Black Friday), the best Peacock deal for most people on any given day is the annual subscription plan. When you pay upfront for the year, you’ll get 12 months for the price of 10. A monthly subscription with ads typically costs $10.99 per month (which comes out to $131.88), but paying upfront drops that price to just $109.99 (which comes out to $9.17 per month). This represents a total saving of 17%.
Mashable Deals
The Peacock Premium Plus plan costs $169.99 per year (which works out to about $14.16 per month instead of $16.99) and offers ad-free content. However, live sports will still include advertisements. If you’re subscribing to Peacock specifically for NBA games, you might as well go for the cheaper option.
More Peacock deals:
Best for Prime Video games: Save $6 per month on Prime Video only
If you’re only interested in Prime Video for NBA games, you probably don’t care about all the added benefits of being a Prime member. In this case, you don’t need to pay $14.99 per month for Prime. You can simply subscribe to Prime Video as a standalone service for just $8.99 per month and save $6 per month.
Of course, Amazon makes it unnecessarily complicated to sign up for Prime Video. When you sign up for a subscription, be sure to select the “see more plans” or “change plans” option. Next, go to the Prime Video option alone. You can always cancel whenever you want, just like you would a full Prime membership.
More Prime Video deals:
Best for out-of-market games: Save over 40% on NBA League Pass annual subscription
$109.99 per season with ads, $159.99 per season without ads
Similar to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket, minus the exorbitant fees, the NBA League Pass gives fans access to live, out-of-market games. Plus, you’ll be able to enjoy game archives, analysis, documentaries, NBA highlights and much more. Local games on NBA TV, as well as games broadcast nationally, will be masked live. You can watch locally banned matches three days after the live broadcast and nationally broadcast matches three hours after. It costs $16.99 or $24.99 per month, but if you pay for the entire season up front, it will only cost you $109.99 or $159.99. The most expensive option allows for ad-free viewing and the ability to stream on three devices at once.
