Dec 27, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III (25) reacts to making a three point basket against the Phoenix Suns during the first half at Smoothie King Center (Photo: Stephen Lew).
The Saints went through the entire 2025 season without a nationally televised or primetime broadcast.
Now it appears the Pelicans will do the same.
ESPN has announced its plans to pivot from broadcasting the Pelicans home game Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Instead, ESPN will show the Toronto Raptors-Orlando Magic game to open its Friday doubleheader.
Despite the TV change, Friday’s game at the Smoothie King Center will still tip off just after 6:30 p.m.
New Orleans originally had two network TV games on the schedule – a December home game against the San Antonio Spurs on Peacock, and the Grizzlies game. In both cases, the network changed their minds.
The Pelicans’ only national TV games a year ago were on the road, meaning the last time a national network brought its cameras to the SKC was the 2024 playoffs.
The only non-local broadcast remaining on the 2025-26 schedule is an April 3 game at Sacramento on NBA TV, which is a local simulcast. As for the league’s broadcast partners – ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime – there are no Pels games scheduled.
The Saints and Pelicans will play a combined 99 games in the 2025-26 season, none of which will be nationally televised.
There is an outside chance a game could be added to the national TV schedule, but when the Pels are 11-36 and have the second-worst record in the NBA, that option seems unlikely.