For many viewers, watching the Heat on television became significantly more expensive last season, when Comcast Xfinity — South Florida’s dominant cable provider — placed FanDuel Sports Sun on a tier that charges subscribers about $20 per month.
And now, as the league begins a partnership with two streaming services, watching Heat games might again become a bit more expensive this season, depending on the whims of the league and multiple rights-holders, and also depending on whether you currently subscribe to two major streaming services.
According to league and network sources, a significant number of the Amazon Prime Video and Peacock games this season — the first of an 11-year deal — will be exclusive, meaning they cannot be televised by regional sports networks. Some of the Amazon and Peacock games will be permitted to be carried by RSNs.
Fans of each team won’t know how many games will be “lost” to Amazon and Peacock until the schedule is announced sometime in Auguest.
Also, all NBC games will be exclusive in the new deal, and all ABC games (and select ESPN games) also will remain exclusive.
In the past deal, TNT — which is exiting NBA game coverage — had exclusivity for Thursday night games and playoff games beginning in the second round.
Amazon Prime Video costs $14.99 per month or $139.99 per year. Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, is priced at $5.99 per month. If you’re a Heat fan who already subscribes to both, there won’ t be any added costs. There would be added costs only if you don’t subscribe to either, and if any Heat games are among the exclusive-only Amazon or Peacock packages.
For some, the greater impact will be felt in the playoffs, when every game — including those on Amazon Prime and Peacock — will be exclusive. In past years, FanDuel Sports Sun could carry first-round Heat playoff games that aren’t on ABC. That’s no longer the case.
Also, if the Heat is relegated to the play-in tournament for a fourth consecutive season, those games will be available only on Amazon Prime, as opposed to ESPN and TNT in past years.
And some games of the early-season NBA Cup tournament — including the semifinals and finals — also will be exclusive to Amazon Prime.
Here’s what to know about when games will be aired or streamed:
▪ Amazon, which has a 66-game regular-season package, will carry NBA games on Friday nights until the NFL regular-season ends, and then will stream games on Thursday and Friday nights. Amazon also will have some Saturday afternoon games.
▪ Peacock will carry a doubleheader on Mondays.
▪ ESPN, which aired games mostly on Wednesdays and Fridays in the previous contract, now will carry games on Wednesdays and some Fridays. ABC will continue to televise games on Saturday nights (after football season) and Sunday afternoons and Christmas.
▪ NBC will carry a Sunday night game after NFL season ends and will air a Tuesday night game all season.
NBC is trying an unprecedented approach on Tuesdays: One game will air on NBC affiliates in the Eastern and Central time zones on Tuesdays, and a different game (originating from the West) will air on NBC affiliates in the Mountain and Western time zones. Both games will be available on Peacock.
That clever strategy means games will air in prime time on both coasts and keeps local stations from needing to pre-empt local news. But it also means that some appealing inter-conference games — such as the Lakers vs. the Knicks — likely cannot be scheduled on Tuesdays.
But according to a source, NBC will carry two games in the entire country — on NBC — on opening night, like TNT has in past years. That essentially opens up any possible matchup for NBC on opening night.
NBA talent news
So why didn’t NBC hire Dwyane Wade after using him alongside Noah Eagle on men’s basketball Olympic broadcasts last year?
According to a source, NBC offered Wade a job on its primary studio set, but Wade did not want to travel every week from his Los Angeles area home to NBC’s studios in Stamford, Connecticut.
Instead, NBC opted for Carmelo Anthony (who lives in the Stamford area) and Vince Carter; both will work with host Maria Taylor on Sunday night and Tuesday night games.
Wade instead opted for a job with Amazon, where he can call some games and make some studio appearances in Culver City, California, which is near his home.
▪ Expect Mike Tirico, NBC’s lead voice, to work a lot with Reggie Miller. Though Jamal Crawford has been identified by NBC as its co-lead analyst, the network will see how this season goes before determining whether Crawford will be paired with Tirico and Miller on a conference finals next season.
Noah Eagle will be NBC’s other primary NBA announcer, and Terry Gannon — a longtime NBC golf and Olympics announcer — will be the network’s No. 3 play-by-play voice. To some, Gannon is best known as a sharp-shooting guard on North Carolina State’s Cinderella NCAA championship team that beat Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Cougars in 1983. Gannon was quite capable as a college basketball play-by-play man and analyst early in his career.
Gannon and Grant Hill will be among those calling games on Peacock; Ahmed Fareed has been named host for Monday night Peacock games.
▪ Amazon has assembled a very deep talent lineup, in some ways better than ESPN’s group.
Play-by-play: Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Wolves TV voice Michael Grady, Hornets TV voice Eric Collins..
Analysts: Stan Van Gundy, Brent Barry, Dell Curry; D-Wade, Steve Nash, Candace Parker will split time between games and studio. (Eagle and Harlan obviously keep their CBS NFL and college basketball jobs as well.)
Studio: Rooks, Dirk Nowitzki, Udonis Haslem and Blake Griffin, with some appearances by Wade, Nash and Parker.
News note
Former South Florida radio personality Joy Taylor, sister of UM assistant coach and Dolphins legend Jason Taylor, lost her FS-1 job this week as part of major changes at the network.
FS-1 canceled three shows, including Taylor’s “Speak” – which she co-hosted with Paul Pierce and Keyshawn Johnson, as well as “The Facility” (which featured former NFL players James Jones, Chase Daniel, Emmanuel Acho and LeSean McCoy) and “Breakfast Ball” (which featured former NFL player Mark Schlereth).