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The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Phoenix Suns are offering fans free television antennas, following their decision to show live games on local free-to-air (FTA) networks.
Confirmed:
- The Suns and the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Phoenix Mercury confirmed in July they would show games on several Arizona-based commercial networks owned by Gray Television, as well as on a new streaming service
- NBA team offered fans free antennas to connect to their TVs through a request form online
- Suns’ chief executive Josh Bartelstein told ESPN the franchise had to order more antennas, after the offer’s popularity led to the team running out of its initial stock
Context:
The Suns had previously shown their games on regional sports network (RSN) Bally Sports Arizona, which was operated by Diamond Sports Group (DSG). Suns owner Mat Ishbia said that the team’s new rights deals would expand their games’ reach to more than 2.8 million homes in Arizona.
Elsewhere, DSG has agreed a new multi-year local media rights deal with the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Los Angeles Kings.
Under the agreement’s terms, Bally Sports West will show about 65 live games, as well as pre and postgame shows and original programming. Kings’ fans can also stream games either through the Bally Sports app or after subscribing to direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform Bally Sports+.
Coming next:
The first of the Suns’ five preseason games against the Detroit Pistons will be shown on Gray’s networks on 8th October, with 70 regular-season games to also be broadcast freely.
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