Streaming news roundup: the Pacers join DAZN, and the NBA eyes YouTube for its local-TV future

The Indiana Pacers became the second NBA team to move its local games exclusively to DAZN, and for the first time we know what DAZN's team pricing looks like. The NBA is also reportedly eyeing YouTube for a consolidated local-streaming hub by 2027-28 in a deal that could top $1 billion. Plus a team-by-team look at where the NBA's 13 displaced clubs are landing.

The gist: The NBA's local-TV picture is filling in fast. This week a second team locked in a streaming home with real, published prices, we got a look at where every one of the league's displaced teams now stands, and a report surfaced about where the whole thing is ultimately headed: a single league-run hub, possibly on YouTube. Here's what changed, so you can find your team.

The Pacers pick DAZN, and DAZN's pricing comes into focus

On Thursday, the Indiana Pacers announced a five-year deal making DAZN the exclusive streaming home of their local games, the second NBA team to go DAZN-only after the Timberwolves last month. Both are among the 13 teams left without a local home when the FanDuel Sports Network regional networks collapsed.

The detail most fans have been waiting on is the price. DAZN's Pacers package will run $119.99 for the season or $19.99 a month, with an early-bird season pass at $59.99 for fans who sign up before October 15 (about a dollar a game), plus a seven-day trial. It's the clearest look yet at what DAZN's team-by-team local model actually costs.

Not everything sits behind the paywall: 22 Pacers games will be available outside it, and as many as 15 could be simulcast on local over-the-air television. Another 11 games air nationally on ESPN, NBC, or Prime Video, completing the 82-game schedule. All told, DAZN is now involved with about 10 NBA teams for this season, the Timberwolves and Pacers exclusively, plus the New York-area MSG and YES teams and others in various arrangements.

Where the rest of the NBA's teams stand

The Pacers are one piece of a much bigger board. Here's where the 13 teams the FanDuel networks left behind have landed so far:

• Over-the-air broadcast: the Hawks (Gray Media's WANF/Atlanta News First and the Peachtree Sports Network across Georgia), the Heat (WPLG Local 10 in South Florida), the Bucks (MY24 and a statewide Wisconsin network, their first full over-the-air season in 31 years), the Pistons (Scripps), and the Hornets and Magic (both with Cox).
• Streaming-first with DAZN: the Timberwolves and now the Pacers, with the Cavaliers, Spurs, and Grizzlies all reportedly expected to follow.
• Still without an announced home: the Thunder and Clippers, both reportedly leaning toward over-the-air deals of their own.

A pattern jumps out: most of these teams landed on broadcast TV rather than streaming, which for a lot of fans means the games got easier to reach, not harder, since a local station comes with an antenna or any package that carries it.

The NBA eyes YouTube for a $1 billion local hub

These team-by-team deals are a bridge, not the destination. The NBA is building a consolidated local-streaming hub to house most teams' local games starting in the 2027-28 season, and according to a Forbes report, YouTube is the frontrunner to host it, with DAZN also in the mix, in a deal that could exceed $1 billion. The league reportedly wants 25 to 29 teams in the hub, which would replace today's scattered patchwork with a single destination, at least for the teams that join. That's why so many of this year's deals are short-term: they're bridges to a league-run future a season away.

What it means for you

If you follow the Pacers or Timberwolves, you finally have a clear answer and a price. If you follow the Cavaliers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Thunder, or Clippers, watch for an announcement soon. And if your team already moved (like the Magic and Hornets to Cox, or any of the over-the-air teams above), the good news is it's often a broadcast station you can pull in with an antenna or a basic package.

The bigger takeaway is that local sports is being rebuilt one team at a time this year, heading toward a more consolidated future a season from now. Until then, the honest answer to "where's my team?" is genuinely different from one market to the next, which is exactly the gap StreamCaddy is built to close.

Not sure which of this week's games you can already watch? StreamCaddy maps the cheapest correct way to watch all of your teams and events for your exact location and subscriptions.

Sources

1. Sports Media Watch — "Game of DAZNs: Pacers latest team to join streamer" (the Pacers reached an exclusive rights deal with DAZN, the second NBA team solely distributed by DAZN after the Timberwolves; 22 games outside the paywall and as many as 15 simulcast over-the-air; the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Bucks, and Pistons have announced over-the-air deals, with the Cavaliers, Spurs, and Grizzlies expected to reach DAZN deals and the Thunder and Clippers expected to go over-the-air), August 20, 2026 — https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/08/pacers-dazn-deal-nba-local-media-rights/
2. Sportcal — "DAZN continues US local-broadcast sweep with NBA Pacers deal" (season pass $119.99, early-bird pass $59.99 before October 15, monthly pass $19.99, seven-day trial; 11 Pacers games on national TV via ESPN, NBC, or Prime Video; DAZN is the exclusive DTC streaming home of seven New York-area MSG and YES teams), August 20, 2026 — https://www.sportcal.com/news/dazn-continues-us-local-broadcast-sweep-with-nba-pacers-deal/
3. Forbes — "NBA Eyes YouTube For Local TV Rights In Potential $1 Billion Deal" (the NBA plans a consolidated local-streaming hub for most team games by 2027-28, aiming for 25 to 29 teams while excluding the Raptors; YouTube is the leading candidate with DAZN a strong contender, in a deal potentially exceeding $1 billion), August 19, 2026 — https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncassillo/2026/08/19/nba-consolidating-local-rights-doesnt-streamline-viewing-experience/
4. Awful Announcing — "Atlanta Hawks reach over-the-air deal with Gray Media for local broadcasts" (all non-nationally televised Hawks games air on Gray's WANF/Atlanta News First and the Peachtree Sports Network; the fourth ex-Main Street NBA team to move local broadcasts to over-the-air affiliates, joining the Pistons, Heat, and Bucks), July 16, 2026 — https://awfulannouncing.com/local-networks/atlanta-hawks-local-broadcast-deal-gray-media.html
5. Yahoo Sports — "Heat has a new TV home for 2026-27 season — WPLG Local 10" (all non-nationally televised Heat games air over-the-air on WPLG Local 10 in South Florida beginning in October; one-year deal, with the NBA potentially taking control of local-TV agreements thereafter), June 8, 2026 — https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heat-tv-home-2026-27-140102912.html
6. Urban Milwaukee — "Bucks Games Returning To Free TV For 2026-27 Season" (the Bucks' local preseason and regular-season games move to MY24 via a partnership with Rincon Broadcasting Group and a statewide Wisconsin affiliate network, their first full over-the-air season in 31 years; the team is separately developing a direct-to-consumer streaming service), July 10, 2026 — https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2026/07/10/bucks-games-returning-to-free-tv-for-2026-27-season/