The NBA hasn’t lived on one channel since the 2024-25 season ended. A new 11-year media rights deal split national games across several providers. These are ESPN, ABC, NBC, Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video.
For most fans, that leaves a choice between Peacock and Prime Video for the bulk of national viewing. This is because ESPN and ABC mostly live on cable or their own separate apps.
Here’s what each one actually gets you, what neither one covers, and which fits how you watch.
What Peacock’s NBA package includes
Peacock is carrying more than 100 NBA games in the 2026-27 season, spread across three weekly windows:
- Peacock NBA Monday, with up to three games streamed exclusively
- Coast 2 Coast Tuesday, doubleheaders simulcast with NBC
- Sunday Night Basketball, which starts once NBC’s NFL coverage wraps up in February
In the playoffs, expect that NBC and Peacock will carry a share of the First Round and Conference Semifinal games. The service is also your exclusive home for the 2027 NBA All-Star Weekend. It will carry WNBA games throughout the year, including some Peacock-exclusive matchups.
None of this comes free, of course. You need at least a Peacock Premium subscription. This will set you back $12.99 a month after Peacock’s latest price increase.
The cheaper Peacock Select plan doesn’t include live sports at all. Also, paying more for Premium Plus doesn’t guarantee an ad-free broadcast either.
What Prime Video’s NBA package includes
Prime Video carries 66 to 67 exclusive regular-season games a year, including an opening-week doubleheader, a Black Friday game, and every Knockout Round game of the Emirates NBA Cup.
Its postseason slate is smaller but distinct: Prime Video has exclusive rights to the entire Play-In Tournament for all 11 years of the deal, plus a share of First and Second Round playoff games. For 2026-27, that includes the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time.
The giant also carries 21 exclusive WNBA games and roughly 40 NBA G League games a season. Hence, it covers more of the wider basketball calendar than just the NBA itself.
Unlike Peacock, none of this costs extra. NBA on Prime is included with any Prime membership, which runs $14.99 a month or $139 a year, with discounted rates available for young adults and qualifying government assistance recipients.
Neither service has the NBA Finals
This is the biggest catch for both. Under the rights-sharing agreement, ESPN and ABC keep the NBA Finals every year of the deal. This is along with the majority of Conference Finals appearances and the largest single share of early-round playoff games.
If watching the Finals live is what matters to you, neither Peacock nor Prime Video gets you there. You would still need ESPN.
Which one do you actually need?
If you want the largest volume of national games and don’t mind a dedicated sports subscription, Peacock’s schedule is simply bigger. If you already pay for Prime, or don’t want another standalone bill just for basketball, Prime Video effectively gives you NBA coverage for free.
Fans of the Emirates NBA Cup or the Play-In Tournament don’t have a choice either way: that coverage is exclusive to Prime Video for the life of the deal.
One workaround worth knowing about is that Prime Video lets you add Peacock as a channel subscription through its own app, so it’s possible to manage both from one place rather than juggling two separate apps.
Realistically, a fan who wants to see nearly every nationally televised game, including the Finals, will still end up needing pieces of all three: Peacock, Prime Video, and some form of ESPN.
For a rundown of ways to follow the league, our full guide to NBA streaming options covers the rest of the field.