Streaming news roundup: the Thunder go their own way on local TV, and the NBA's board narrows

The Oklahoma City Thunder unveiled their 2026-27 local viewing plan, and it's a hybrid the other displaced teams haven't tried: local broadcast TV plus a team streaming service, Thunder+, delivered through the NBA App, with no DAZN in sight. That leaves just a few NBA teams without an announced home. Here's the Thunder's setup and the state of the league's local-TV map.

The gist: Another of the NBA's displaced teams found a home, and the Thunder's approach is different from everyone else's: a hybrid of local broadcast and a team streaming service on the NBA App, with no DAZN involved. With that deal done, only a handful of teams are left unsigned. Here's the Thunder's plan and where the league's local map stands heading into the season.

The Thunder build their own local network

On Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the last NBA teams still without a 2026-27 local home, announced the "Thunder Gameday Network," and it's a different approach than any of the other displaced teams have taken.

Rather than hand their local rights to a single partner like DAZN, or go purely over-the-air, the Thunder are doing a bit of everything. Their 67 non-national games will air locally on Griffin Media stations, KSBI in Oklahoma City and KQCW in Tulsa, carried on Cox, Spectrum, and DirecTV, with a handful available over the air. The same games will also stream on Thunder+, a direct-to-consumer service delivered through the NBA App, for $19.99 a month or $108.99 for the season (dropping to $99.99 if you subscribe between September 8 and 30). The remaining 15 games are national broadcasts on ABC/ESPN, Prime Video, and NBC/Peacock.

Two things stand out. First, the Thunder skipped DAZN entirely, unlike the Timberwolves and Pacers, and built their own package. Second, they're using the NBA App as the delivery vehicle for Thunder+, which is a preview of where the league is heading: the NBA plans to consolidate most teams' local streams into a single hub, likely on that same app, by 2027-28.

Where that leaves the NBA's board

The Thunder were one of the 13 teams the FanDuel networks left without a home. With their deal done, the still-unannounced teams narrow to the Cavaliers, Spurs, and Grizzlies (all reportedly expected on DAZN) and the Clippers.

Step back, and three distinct models have emerged from the collapse of the regional sports networks:

• Streaming-first with DAZN: the Timberwolves and Pacers, with the three teams above expected to follow.
• Over-the-air broadcast: the Hawks, Heat, Bucks, Pistons, Hornets, and Magic, each with a local station group.
• Do-it-yourself hybrid: now the Thunder, mixing local broadcast with their own NBA App streaming service.

The Washington Wizards found yet another flavor recently, joining DAZN through the Monumental Sports Network, which also carries the NHL's Capitals. The through-line is that there's no single answer, and each team's fans have to learn a new setup this year.

What it means for you

If you follow the Thunder, the practical picture is clear and reasonably priced: local games on Griffin Media stations or on Thunder+ for about $109 a season, and national games on the usual networks. One catch is worth flagging, and it's the same one that trips fans up everywhere this year: Thunder+ is for in-market viewers, and the NBA's out-of-market League Pass blacks out Thunder games inside that territory. So in-market fans use Thunder+, while out-of-market fans use League Pass.

More broadly, the Thunder's plan is a good reminder that "how do I watch my team?" now has a genuinely different answer in every market, which is exactly the question StreamCaddy is built to answer.

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. News 9 (Griffin Media) — "67 Thunder Games Coming To KSBI, News 9" (Griffin Media is expanding its partnership with the Thunder to carry 67 games; 63 will air on KSBI in Oklahoma City through participating distributors, six of those over the air, with four games on News 9 on Oct. 31, Nov. 28, Jan. 18, and April 9; KSBI is on Spectrum channels 7 and 707 HD and DirecTV channel 52; streaming access is available through a direct-to-consumer option within the NBA App for $19.99 per month), August 28, 2026 — https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-thunder/oklahoma-city-thunder-griffin-media-broadcasts
2. KFOR — "Thunder announces plans for broadcasting games ahead of the 2026-27 season" (the Thunder announced the "Thunder Gameday Network" on Thursday; for $19.99 per month fans can watch the team's full season, excluding 15 nationally televised games, through Thunder+, or $108.99 for the season, reduced to $99.99 for sign-ups between Sept. 8 and Sept. 30; the Thunder open the regular season Oct. 20 against San Antonio on NBC and Peacock), August 28, 2026 — https://kfor.com/news/thunder-announces-plans-for-broadcasting-games-ahead-of-the-2026-27-season/
3. Awful Announcing — "Oklahoma City Thunder strike unique local media deal" (rather than choose an all-streaming or all-over-the-air approach, the Thunder are doing both; per Sports Business Journal, a local media deal with Griffin Media airs games in Oklahoma City and Tulsa on local affiliates, all non-nationally televised games are available on cable and satellite through Cox and DirecTV, and instead of linking up with DAZN, Oklahoma City is launching Thunder+ through the NBA App at $19.99 per month or $108.99 for the season), August 29, 2026 — https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder-hybrid-local-media.html
4. NWA Homepage — "OKC Thunder announce new broadcast platform for fans in viewing region" (Thunder+ is available to anyone in the team's viewing area, including all of Oklahoma and Kansas and most of Arkansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, through the NBA App or DirecTV; 15 regular-season games not on Thunder+ air on the NBA's national partners; fans within a team's viewing region cannot watch its games through NBA League Pass, which blacks them out locally), August 28, 2026 — https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/local-news/okc-thunder-announce-new-broadcast-platform-for-fans-in-viewing-region/
5. Sportcal — "DAZN continues local rights spree with Monumental Sports partnership" (DAZN partnered with Monumental Sports Network, the local home of the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals, expanding the streamer's in-market direct-to-consumer reach; the deal follows DAZN's recent regional agreements with the Pacers and Timberwolves), August 26, 2026 — https://www.sportcal.com/media/dazn-continues-local-rights-spree-with-monumental-sports-partnership/