It has been more than 20 years since Trail Blazers fans have been able to watch all the team’s games for free.

Now, our Portland sister station KATU is helping bring theTrail Blazers back to local television.

This season, KVAL’s parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group, and the Portland Trail Blazers reached an agreement to launch “Rip City Television Network,” which means for the first time in history, most of the Trail Blazer games will be free over the air.

The games will be broadcast on Sinclair affiliates, including KATU and KUNP in the Portland-metro area.

Games can be seen outside the Portland-metro area, as well. In Seattle, catch the Blazers on KUNS/TBD.TV Network; in Medford, KTVL/TBD.TV Network; in Eugene, KVAL, KCBY and KPIC/TBD. TV Network. In Yamika/Pasco Washington, watch Blazer games on KEPR and KIMA/TBD.TV Network.

Dewayne Hankins, president of business operations for Portland Trail Blazers, said during an appearance on KATU News on Monday night as part of the announcement of the TV agreement that he looks forward to having games broadcast on the Sinclair family of stations.

“For us, it was about making the right decision for the fans. We really wanted to make sure our fans were able to watch our games,” he told KATU’s Steve Dunn. “We believe that being able to watch Blazers basketball creates lifelong fans, and that’s what we’re in the business of.”

The Blazers are a young team, but Hankins said there’s still much excitement to be had.

“I think you’re going to see some exciting play; you’re going to see some young guys you really want to get out there and do it, and I think it’s fun,” he said.

The Trail Blazers are also launching a paid, subscription-based direct-to-consumer streaming service called BlazerVision. Subscribers in Oregon and Washington will be able to watch games wherever they may be and will have access to on-demand replays, Classic Games and other exclusive content including “The Trail Presented by Alaska Airlines.”

An annual subscription to BlazerVision will be $120 for the entire season or $19.99 a month.

The new agreement will expand the Trail Blazers broadcast reach by four times.

Returning for an eighth season to call Blazer games will be Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd, along with Brooke Olzendam.

“We are fired up, man,” said Kevin Calabro, the Blazers’ play-by-play announcer.”We’re excited about having our own broadcast network around the state of Oregon and get all the fans involved, and BlazerVision as well, for expanded content as well. So, there are so many ways to witness the Blazers this year.”

As for Blazers’ TV analyst Lamar Hurd, being able to experience the games as a child is important.

“As a kid, I couldn’t afford cable. So if the game was not provided, I wasn’t watching it, I maybe wasn’t falling in love with the game,” he said. “And with us being the Blazers, we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to use our basketball influence as an organization and help other people, and that manifests in a lot of different ways.”

He said kids and fans of all ages want to engage with the team, and this new partnership will help provide that opportunity.