"The Suns and Mercury have agreed to a two-year extension with Gray Media to broadcast their games free over the air across Arizona through the 2027-28 season. The deal is worth more than $30 million per season, sources familiar with the matter told ESPN, restoring the money they left on the table when walking away from a long standing partnership with then bankrupt Diamond Sports in 2023."
"At the time it was an aggressive and unorthodox move and Diamond Sports sued the team for breach of contract. The lawsuit was eventually settled and the Suns moved forward producing their own broadcasts and putting them over-the-air, running promotions to give away free television antennas to fans. They also launched a streaming service for their games called Suns+."
The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury agreed to a two-year extension with Gray Media to broadcast games free over the air across Arizona through the 2027-28 season. The deal is worth more than $30 million per season and restores revenue left behind when the teams ended a partnership with bankrupt Diamond Sports in 2023. Suns local ratings more than doubled and Mercury viewership grew 425%, aided by broader WNBA gains. The teams produced their own broadcasts, gave away free television antennas to fans, launched a streaming service called Suns+, and prompted other NBA teams to pursue over-the-air options amid RSN struggles.
#sports-media-rights #phoenix-suns #phoenix-mercury #regional-sports-networks #over-the-air-broadcasting
Read at ESPN.com
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