Suns To Telecast Their Games For Free Next Season
The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury have announced on Friday that their games will be free to watch next season.
The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury have announced on Friday that their games will be free to watch next season.
Currently, Bally Sports Arizona have the broadcast rights to the teams.
But with the television contract expiring, Suns and Mercury owner Mat Isbhia disclosed that fans in Arizona would be able to watch local NBA and WNBA broadcasts for free.
“I’ve always said that our focus is on our fans, community, and our organization. This deal has it all,” Ishbia said in a press release.
“By going completely over the air and developing our own direct-to-consumer (DTC) product, the Suns and Mercury will now be available to millions more fans in Arizona and around the world,” he said as quoted by NBA Central.
The Suns’ agreement with Arizona’s Family 3TV and AZ Family Sports Network, which started in March, will provide the franchise with at least 70 non-national exclusive games throughout the regular season.
At least 40 games will be broadcast on 3TV, with the remainder on AZ Family Sports Network.
“Cord cutters, cable subscribers, and fans with an antenna – all will watch Suns and Mercury games on Arizona’s Family,” Ishbia said.
The Suns and Mercury will also collaborate with Kiswe, a video technology business that delivers live-streaming media through their team-affiliated app, under the terms of the new arrangement.
Ishbia said that providing over-the-air broadcasts, in collaboration with “an industry leader like Kiswe to introduce a digital streaming solution.
The opportunity allows us to transform the way fans watch our games, giving them more options and access than they’ve ever had.”
The Suns and Mercury’s plan to broadcast television represents a major shift for the NBA and WNBA, which have typically required fans to subscribe to a regional sports network like AT&T SportsNet or Bally Sports to see games.
The Jazz’s deal with AT&T SportsNet expires at the end of this season. The franchise will announce a new broadcast partner this summer.
In March, Jazz owner Ryan Smith told KSL Sports Zone that his objective with their next media arrangement was to make it easier for fans to watch games.
“I want every single Jazz enthusiast to be able to watch our matches in any format that they want to,” Smith said, “and I want it to be easy.”
With the widespread collapse of regional sports networks, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has warned NBA clubs that their local broadcasts may alter.
During the All-Star weekend in Utah, Silver stated that there would be “over-the-air television, streaming services, and other methods to bring those games linear and digitally directly to fans.”
Since 2009, AT&T SportsNet has broadcast Jazz games. The initial 12-year deal to air games ended in 2021, but AT&T SportsNet’s exclusive bargaining window has kept the Jazz on the network for the previous two seasons.
