The 2026-27 NBA season is the second year of the league’s 11 year deals with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon, and the schedule is built around a night of the week for each partner: Peacock on Mondays, NBC and Peacock on Tuesdays, ESPN on Wednesdays, Prime Video on Thursdays and Fridays, Prime and ABC on Saturdays, and ABC and NBC on Sundays. The season opens Tuesday, Oct. 20 with a tripleheader on NBC and Peacock and runs through April 11. Every channel, the weekly rotation and the marquee dates are below.
Where NBA Games Air in 2026-27
| Channel or service | What it carries | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| NBC and NBCSN | 69 games on broadcast NBC, the most of any network, including opening night, Tuesday doubleheaders and Sunday night games later in the season | Over the air, cable, satellite or a live TV streamer |
| Peacock | Every NBC game plus Monday night exclusives | Peacock subscription |
| ESPN and ABC | Wednesday nights on ESPN, Saturday and Sunday windows on ABC, opening week doubleheaders, the five game Christmas Day slate and the Finals on ABC | Cable, satellite or a live TV streamer; all games stream on the ESPN App with an ESPN Unlimited plan |
| Prime Video | 66 games: Thursday and Friday nights, Saturday afternoons from February, 10 NBA Cup group games, the entire Cup knockout round including the championship, and the Play-In Tournament | Amazon Prime membership |
| NBA TV | Select games, studio coverage and highlights | Cable, satellite, live TV streamers or League Pass |
| Regional networks and team apps | Every game not in a national window, in the team’s home market | Varies by team |
| NBA League Pass | Out of market games, with blackouts for local teams and national windows | NBA League Pass subscription |
The National Schedule by Night
| Night | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Monday | Peacock, with some games on NBCSN |
| Tuesday | NBC and Peacock doubleheaders starting Oct. 27, regionalized: the early game on NBC in Eastern markets, the late game on NBC in Western markets, both on Peacock |
| Wednesday | ESPN |
| Thursday | Prime Video |
| Friday | Prime Video, plus ESPN games starting in January |
| Saturday | Prime Video in the afternoon starting in February, ABC and ESPN at night |
| Sunday | ABC and ESPN in the afternoon, NBC and Peacock at night, mostly later in the season |
Marquee Dates and Where They Air
| Date | Event | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 20 | Opening night: Celtics at Pistons 3 p.m., 76ers at Knicks 7 p.m. (banner night), Thunder at Spurs 9:30 p.m. ET | NBC, Peacock |
| Oct. 21 and 23 | Opening week doubleheaders | ESPN (Wednesday), Prime Video (Friday: Knicks at Celtics 7 p.m., Rockets at Spurs 9 p.m.) |
| Oct. 30 to Nov. 27 | NBA Cup group play on Cup Nights, every Friday plus Nov. 24 and 25 | Prime Video, NBC, ESPN and regional networks |
| Dec. 4 and 5 | NBA Cup quarterfinals, in team markets | Prime Video |
| Dec. 8 and 9 | NBA Cup semifinals, at the higher seed’s arena | Prime Video |
| Dec. 11 | NBA Cup championship, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis | Prime Video |
| Dec. 25 | Christmas Day, five games | ABC, ESPN |
| February 2027 | All-Star Weekend, Phoenix | NBC, Peacock |
| April 11, 2027 | Regular season ends | Regional and national mix |
| April 13 to 16, 2027 | Play-In Tournament | Prime Video |
| April to June 2027 | Playoffs and Finals | ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Prime Video share the rounds; the Finals are on ABC |
Watching Without Cable
You can cover the whole national schedule with three subscriptions and no cable: Peacock for NBC’s games, the ESPN App’s Unlimited plan for ESPN and ABC, and Prime Video for Amazon’s nights. Live TV streamers such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling and Fubo carry NBC, ESPN and ABC if you’d rather have them in one place. For a single out of market team, League Pass is the cheaper route.
Related
NBA games tonight · NBA schedule 2026-27 · NBA opening night · NBA Cup 2026 · NBA scores today · NBA standings · NBA odds today
Broadcast details from NBA.com and Awful Announcing.