The Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury are celebrating a local media rights deal that has practically replaced lost revenue. After being the first NBA team to break with its struggling regional television network partner, the Suns and Mercury have reached a two-year extension agreement with Gray Media. This agreement will allow for the free broadcast of their games in Arizona through the 2027-28 season. This new contract, valued at more than $30 million per season, recovers the revenue they stopped receiving when their long collaboration with Diamond Sports ended in 2023, which was then in bankruptcy. The success of the agreement is based on the significant increase in the Suns’ local audiences, which doubled. The Mercury also experienced notable growth, with a 425% increase in their audience, in line with the overall increase in WNBA audiences.
This decision, bold and unconventional at the time, led Diamond Sports to sue the team for breach of contract. The lawsuit was ultimately resolved, and the Suns moved forward by producing their own broadcasts and airing them over the air. In addition, they launched promotions to give away free television antennas to fans and a streaming service called Suns+ for broadcasting their games. Other NBA teams, such as the Utah Jazz, the Charlotte Hornets, and the New Orleans Pelicans, followed Phoenix’s lead and began broadcasting their games on free local stations. The situation of regional sports networks (RSNs) due to the decline of cable television is one of the biggest financial challenges currently facing the NBA. Although a new 11-year, $77 billion national media rights deal will begin this season, which ensures revenue growth, the reduction in local television revenue has led the league to slightly decrease its previous projections for this season’s salary cap. NBA teams are expected to receive around $145 million each from rights deals next season. However, some teams are dealing with reductions in their local television deals. For example, the New York Knicks agreed to reduce their local television deal by $41 million for the 2025-26 season as part of a restructuring plan with MSG Networks. Ishbia has been in contact with other owners who are exploring how to handle changing market conditions and expects the initial success of the Suns and Mercury to continue. In the next two years, 18 teams will see their agreements with RSNs expire, and the NBA is looking for ways to create options both on free-to-air and streaming platforms.“It’s been a win-win situation. It was about doing the right thing for the fans and making the games more accessible. And when you grow your fanbase, good things happen.”
Mat Ishbia, owner of the Suns and Mercury
“Everyone wanted to wait and see, it’s a big deal to take less money [from local television] or even have no money and rely on it. Hopefully it can be a model for other NBA teams. You do the right thing by the customer and good things tend to happen.”
Mat Ishbia, Suns and Mercury owner
