The new Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury business headquarters
Josh Bartelstein (CEO) and owner Mat Ishbia talk about the Phoenix Suns and Mercury new business headquarters, April 4, 2024, at 475 E Lincoln Street, Phoenix, Arizona.
The Phoenix Suns have extended their local media rights partnership with Gray Media through 2028 with Arizona’s Family continuing as the local television broadcast provider, the team announced Friday, Sept. 19.
The “over-the-air for free” deal includes the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and G League’s Valley Suns, who are entering their second season. The deal is worth more than $30 million per season, ESPN reported on Sept. 19.
“This has always been about the fans,” Suns team owner Mat Ishbia said in a news release. “We were the first to make games available free over-the-air, bringing Suns and Mercury games to more fans in Arizona than ever before. We’re excited to keep our games free and accessible – growing our fanbase and the game of basketball by ensuring everyone in Arizona has access to watch the Suns and Mercury.”
Phoenix plays its 2025-26 regular season opener Oct. 22 against the Sacramento Kings at PHX Arena on AZ Family. The Suns’ full local broadcast schedule will be announced as early as next week.
The Suns, Mercury and Valley Suns games will remain available on Suns+ and Merc+, the “direct-to-consumer streaming platforms” powered by Kiswe.
The Suns agreed to their initial deal with Gray Media in 2023 in becoming the first local broadcast partnership in the NBA and WNBA to go exclusively over-the-air. More than 10,000 free antennas were distributed across the state of Arizona to help fans access the games on local channels.
Arizona’s Family broadcast 70 games on local television in the 2024-25 season.
The Suns’ initial agreement was for up to five years and the Mercury was on a two-year deal. Diamond Sports Group had filed an emergency motion back in 2023 against the Suns, alleging breach of contract after the NBA franchise announced it is leaving Bally Sports Arizona for Gray Media and Kiswe.
At the time, Bally Sports Arizona was one of 19 regional sports networks owned by Diamond Sports Group, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after it missed a $140 million interest payment.
Back then, Ishbia stood firm in his stance to provide free viewing of Suns games, setting a renewed trend of local broadcasting for NBA teams.
“Nobody is surprised by this lawsuit and it will not stop the Phoenix Suns and Mercury from making our games available to as many people as we possibly can,” Ishbia said in a statement back in 2023.
The Charlotte Hornets partnered with Gray Media to show five games last season in the Charlotte market.
Gray Media also signed a media rights deal with the New Orleans Pelicans going into the 2024-25 season to broadcast all non-nationally televised Pelicans games locally via free over-the-air television, making Pelicans games available to 4.1 million households (nearly seven million viewers) throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
This move quadrupled the number of households that will have access to watch Pelicans games.
The Suns have more than doubled their viewership of games since moving from Bally Sports Arizona to Arizona’s Family, the team announced, saying they’re averaging 125,000+ among viewers age two or older compared to 63,000 viewers prior to the switch.
The viewership for Mercury games increased 425%, the Suns announced in the news release. ESPN reported this extension recoups money lost when parting ways with Diamond Sports.
“We know the power of broadcast television and were confident the partnership would move the needle,” said Pat LaPlatney, Co-CEO/President, Gray Media, in the news release. “It has created a space for a new generation of Phoenix Suns and Mercury fans to easily connect and cheer on their teams. We see it in the viewership data. But most importantly it ushered in a new era of live sports on broadcast television opening the door for more deals of its kind to be done. We are excited to be on this journey with the Suns and Mercury as we continue to put the fan first.”
The NBA starts its 11-year, $77-billion media rights deal with Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video this season. The colossal deal runs through the 2035-36 season.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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