What’s the best way to watch NBA basketball in 2025-26?
What’s the best way to watch NBA basketball in 2025-26?
This is the first year of the NBA’s national broadcasting deal, so what’s the best way to stream games each night? Check out our ultimate guide.
It’s been a long, hot summer for NBA fans, but the wait is finally over. At long last, the 2025-26 NBA season tips off on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET, when the Oklahoma City Thunder begin their title defense against the Houston Rockets. It’s non-stop action from that point until next summer, and each team in the league has their eye on the Larry O’Brien trophy.
This season is also the first of the NBA’s new $76 billion national media deal. Games will play exclusively on streaming services for the first time this year; Prime Video will get a package of national broadcasts, and Peacock will simulcast all games appearing on the NBC broadcast channel, as well as get exclusive contests that won’t be on linear TV.
With all the choices you have to watch the NBA this year, you can be forgiven for being a bit confused by which outlets you will need access to in order to watch all of the games. But have no fear, The Streamable’s experts are here to clear up as much of the uncertainty as possible. We dig into the best ways to stream the 2025-26 NBA season below, and lay out all of the options you can pick from to get your hoops fix this season.
Everything you need to know about streaming the 2025-26 NBA season
What broadcast and cable TV channels do you need to watch the 2025-26 NBA season this year?
To watch NBA games on a night-in, night-out basis on regular TV, you will need a service that provides to ABC, NBC, ESPN, and the local broadcast channel or regional sports network (RSN) that carries your team’s local games — which will make up the majority of its season broadcasts. There will be no games played on TNT in the United States this season; the NBA boxed TNT Sports out of its latest national broadcast deal, and its games have moved to other platforms.
There are lots of streaming services that carry ABC, ESPN, and NBC, but not as many carry RSNs. NBA TV is in the mix once again in 2025-26 as well, and will offer 60 non-exclusive games throughout the season. We’ll discuss which streamers carry these channels, which don’t but are still convenient for watching select nationally broadcast games, and which platform is our favorite to watch NBA games on this year.
| DIRECTV | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube TV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Save with Sling | Free Trial | |||||
| $20.99 | $9.99 | $28.99 | $25 | $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $64.99 | ||
| ABC | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ESPN | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| NBA TV | + $15 | + $11 | - | - | - | - | + $11 | + $11 | ✓ | |
| NBC | + $19 | + $11 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
Which live TV streamers are best for watching the NBA season?
DIRECTV
DIRECTV is by far our top choice to watch the 2025-26 NBA season on TV, and there are several reasons for this. DIRECTV offers a great amount of choice depending on what kind of access to NBA games they want. Whether you want to watch just one or two games per month, a game every week, or as many games as you can get your hands on, DIRECTV has a package for you.
Let’s start with the best choice for casual fans. DIRECTV’s MySports Genre Pack comes with ABC and NBC in nearly every market nationally, as well as ESPN everywhere. For $70 per month, you also get a host of other live sports channels, like ESPN2, FS1, TNT, TBS, and NFL Network among others. If you’re only really interested in the hand-picked matchups that NBA schedule-makers have planned for national TV channels, this package is a great choice.
Maybe you want to step things up to include regional sports networks in your streaming channel package from DIRECTV. There are a couple of ways to do this; first, you can add the MyHome Team mini-pack to the MySports package, which costs $20 per month and bumps the total up to $90 monthly. The other option is to go with a DIRECTV Signature package — namely, the streamer’s CHOICE package. This service starts at $95 per month, and comes with RSNs in a wide range of markets, though you will have to pay an additional monthly fee of up to $17 if you get RSNs in your plan.
Still, for fans who want that type of access, DIRECTV is ready to go with the CHOICE package, and viewers can also check out the Premier or Ultimate packages if they want RSNs and NBA TV in their plan. DIRECTV also gives you two ways to stream: with your own equipment via its app, or with a Gemini device shipped from DIRECTV to your door. For watching NBA games on traditional TV channels this season, DIRECTV is definitely the top choice.
DIRECTV
DIRECTV is one of The Streamable’s top choices for the best live TV streaming service overall in 2026, especially for users who want the most channels or want to watch the most live sports. With an unbeatable lineup of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels, three main signature packages, an unlimited DVR, and 20 simultaneous streams at home, DIRECTV remains a premier choice for any cord-cutter.
Fubo
Fubo also has great options to watch the 2025-26 NBA season, though not quite as many as DIRECTV. It carries ABC, ESPN, and NBC in its Pro package in most markets, which also incorporates RSNs. The RSN fee bumps the price over $100 for the Pro plan, but it’s a good all-in-one option to watch national and local NBA games on linear channels nonetheless.
The Elite with Sports Plus plan also carries all these options, but the Fubo Sports service — the cheapest offering from the company — is sadly lacking in the amount of NBA games it will carry this year. It doesn’t have NBC in any markets, and it doesn’t have an add-on to watch games on RSNs.
Fubo
Fubo is a live TV streaming service offering a robust lineup of approximately 150 premier channels, with plans starting at $63.99 per month. This entry-level package provides access to local broadcast affiliates 18 of the leading 35 cable channels channels, and valuable regional sports networks (RSNs).
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV is a good all-around option to stream national games on ABC, ESPN, and NBC, but it doesn’t have NBA TV, or a large selection of regional sports networks from market to market. As of Oct. 21, the price of Hulu + Live TV’s base package is rising to $90 per month, but it does include on-demand access to Disney+, the Hulu on-demand library, and the ESPN Select service as well.
Hulu Live TV
Hulu Live TV is a live TV streaming service with more than 70 channels for $89.99 per month. Hulu + Live TV base plan includes local channels 32 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs). Subscribers get free access to Disney+ and ESPN Select at no extra charge.
Sling TV
Sling TV gives good access to NBA games on ABC and ESPN, but that’s about it this season. The good news is, if there’s a marquee game on one of those channels that you want to watch, you can do so with a Sling Pass for just $5 per day, $10 per weekend, or $15 per week. This gives you access to Sling Orange for the period of time you pay for, so you can watch any game on ESPN, or any games on ABC via simulcast on ESPN3.
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV does carry ABC, ESPN, and NBC, and it carries NBA TV in its base package, one of the only streaming services available that does so. But like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV carries only a small number of RSNs relative to other services on this list. Its base package is $83 per month, after a free trial that can be as little as two days, or as long as three weeks during some promotions.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service with more than 60 channels for $82.99/month. This plan includes local channels 32 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs) in select markets. The base plan includes more than 100 live channels, including major broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as popular cable channels such as ESPN, CNN, FX, USA Network, and TNT. Local channels are included in most markets, making YouTube TV a full replacement for traditional cable for many viewers.
Which on-demand streaming services do you need to watch 2025-26 NBA season?
As discussed above, Prime Video and Peacock will both get exclusive games this NBA season. Prime Video will offer 66 regular-season contests as well as playoff games, and will also come with a selection of playoff games. Peacock’s package of streaming-only games will be smaller, but substantial nevertheless. You’ll need subscriptions to both these services to watch all 2025-26 NBA games this year; Peacock Premium starts at $11 per month, and Prime Video by itself starts at $9 per month.
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Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” “The Office,” and original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports and NBC programming, including the NFL, MLB, WWE, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, the French Open, college football and basketball, and the PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.
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Prime Video
Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.
How to watch out-of-market NBA games in 2025-26
NBA League Pass is the best way to watch out-of-market games once again in 2025-26. Viewers can sign up to League Pass through the NBA website, or via Prime Video and its Subscriptions page, and can see either a single-team plan that offers out-of-market, non-national games of just one team, or a package that includes such games from every team. Team Pass plans start at $14 per month, and League Pass plans start at $17 per month, with annual plans available as well.
NBA League Pass
For passionate basketball aficionados, NBA League Pass stands as the premier destination for immersing yourself in the thrilling world of professional basketball. It offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing you to meticulously follow every move of your favorite team throughout the season or broaden your horizons to catch every game played across the entire league. It’s important to note that, due to broadcasting rights, blackout restrictions may apply to games that are televised locally or aired on national channels.