How NBA’s new $75 billion television deal impacts Sacramento Kings viewing
If the Sacramento Kings reach the play-in tournament for a third straight season, fans won’t be able to flip the games on their normal cable providers like they have for decades.
The SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament, as it’s officially called, will air this season for the first time on Prime Video, Amazon’s streaming service. It’s an example of many changes coming to the NBA’s television product for the 2025-26 season which begins for Sacramento on Wednesday when the Kings travel to play the Phoenix Suns.
The NBA signed a new rights deal with its television partners in summer 2024. It’s expected to be worth $75 billion over the next 11 years with Disney, Amazon and NBC. The new deal impacts fans in every NBA market and pushes away from traditional cable and more toward streaming, which has become common throughout the sports and entertainment landscapes.
The move comes while many of the country’s regional sports networks have become financially unsustainable, even while many have had local broadcasting rights to NBA, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League games.
The NBA’s new national TV schedule will be mostly uniform throughout the season. Monday games will air on Peacock (NBC’s streaming service); Tuesday’s will air on NBC and Peacock; Wednesday’s traditional doubleheaders on ESPN will continue. Friday games will air on Prime Video while it hosts the weekly Thursday Night Football games on Thursday.
Midway through the campaign, after the NFL season ends, there will be Thursday and Friday games on Prime Video while ESPN will also have Friday games. Games Saturday will air on ABC, ESPN and Prime Video. On Sunday, ABC, ESPN and NBC/Peacock will have nationally televised games.
The new setup means NBC will get up to 100 games with Disney (ESPN and ABC) getting 80 games and Amazon Prime getting 66 games.
For the Kings, they will have seven games on NBC and Peacock, six locally broadcasted games simulcasted on NBA TV, one game on ESPN and one game on Prime Video. All of the Kings’ non-nationally televised games in-market will remain available on NBC Sports California.
NBA League Pass will be available through traditional television providers on cable, satellite and streaming, along with the NBA App and NBA.com.
League Pass costs $16.99 a month or $109.99 a year for the standard plan; or $24.99 a month or $159.99 a year for the premium plan. NBC Peacock has streaming plans costing $7.99 to $16.99 per month or $79.99 to $169.99 per year, and also have discounts for students, teachers, military members and first responders.
Amazon Prime’s standard memberships run from $14.99 per month or $139 a year with discounted memberships for students, those who qualify for government assistance and young adults.
Nationally televised Sacramento Kings games
Tuesday, Nov. 11 vs. Denver (NBC/Peacock)
Monday, Dec. 8 at Indiana (Peacock)
Thursday, Dec. 18 at Portland (NBA TV)
Saturday, Dec. 27 vs. Dallas (NBA TV)
Tuesday, Dec. 30 at L.A. Clippers (NBC/Peacock)
Thursday, Jan. 1 vs. Boston (NBA TV)
Tuesday, Jan. 6 vs. Dallas (NBC/Peacock)
Monday, Jan. 12 vs. LA Lakers (Peacock)
Friday, Feb. 6 vs. L.A. Clippers (Prime Video)
Tuesday, March 3 vs. Phoenix (NBC/Peacock)
Saturday, March 14 at L.A. Clippers (ESPN)
Tuesday, March 17 vs. San Antonio (NBC/Peacock)
Thursday, March 19 vs. Philadelphia (NBA TV)
Saturday, March 28 at Atlanta (NBA TV)
Friday, April 3 vs. New Orleans (NBA TV)
