NBA's New Era: A Flood of Games, a New TV Landscape
The NBA is entering a new era, and the newly released 2025-26 season schedule proves it. Thanks to a massive 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal, the league will have more nationally televised games than ever before, with a whopping 247 games broadcast across a new lineup of partners.
Gone are the days of TNT. The new broadcast landscape will be dominated by ESPN/ABC, a returning NBC/Peacock, and a new player, Amazon Prime Video. Each of these platforms will have specific broadcast windows throughout the week:
NBC gets Monday nights and debuts "Sunday Night Basketball."
Peacock will have games on Tuesdays.
ESPN will continue to air games on Wednesday and Friday nights.
Amazon Prime Video will be the home of Friday night doubleheaders all season long, with additional doubleheaders from January through April.
New Faces, New Places
The schedule is packed with intriguing matchups and reunions. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will kick off the season on October 21 by raising their championship banner and hosting Kevin Durant and the new-look Houston Rockets in a game on NBC—the network's first NBA game since 2002.
Other key dates to circle on your calendar include:
November 24: Kevin Durant returns to Phoenix to face his former team.
October 23: The Thunder and the Indiana Pacers will have a finals rematch on ESPN.
February 1: LeBron James makes his only trip of the season to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks.
November 28: The Lakers and Mavericks clash for the first time since the blockbuster Anthony Davis-Luka Dončić trade.
Christmas Day: A star-studded lineup of five games will be broadcast on ESPN and ABC, featuring the Cavaliers, Knicks, Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Mavericks, Warriors, Timberwolves, and Nuggets.
The new schedule also prioritizes player rest and health. The average number of back-to-back games has been reduced, and no team will play the day before a nationally televised game on a weekend or major holiday.
With more games on more platforms than ever before, the 2025-26 season promises to be a game-changer for the NBA and its fans.
