PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns will soon have a new television home.
On Friday, the Suns and Phoenix Mercury announced a new media rights deal with Gray Television, Inc. and Kiswe. The deal will locally broadcast the teams' games via over-the-air television and streaming.
In a release sent by the Suns, games will be available to nearly 2.8 million Arizona households under the new deal.
The partnership includes KTVK (Arizona’s Family 3TV), KPHO (Arizona’s Family CBS5) and the statewide KPHE (AZ Family Sports Network), which will serve the Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma media markets.
“I’ve said from day one that our focus is our fans, our community, and every member of our organization and this deal checks every box,” Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury Governor Mat Ishbia said. “By going entirely over the air and building our own DTC product, the Suns and Mercury will now be accessible to millions more fans in Arizona and globally. Success comes from new and innovative ways to invest in our players, continue our mission to build a world class organization on and off the floor, and make our product available to as many people as possible.”
Basketball fans will be able to access all of the Suns and Mercury games through a Direct-To-Consumer streaming option with Kiswe alongside the over-the-air broadcast product.
Subscribers will be able to access the streams through a Suns or Mercury branded app on their smartphones or Smart TVs. The Mercury’s DTC streaming will reportedly be available for free this season.
“Cord cutters, cable subscribers, fans with an antenna – everyone will be able to watch Suns and Mercury games on Arizona’s Family,” added Ishbia. “Coupling that with a partnership with an industry leader like Kiswe to provide an innovative digital streaming solution allows us to transform the way fans watch our games, giving them more options and access than they’ve ever had.”
Officials said all non-national exclusive games will be broadcast between KTVK and KPHE. The Suns will have a minimum of 70 games broadcast, with at least 40 regular-season games on KTVK and the remaining on KPHE.
The Suns' deal is for five years and the Mercury's is a two-year agreement, team officials revealed.
Diamond Sports Group, the current rightsholder for Suns games, has accused the Suns of breaching their contract.
“The Phoenix Suns breached our contract and violated bankruptcy law, and Diamond Sports Group will pursue all remedies against any parties that attempt to exercise control over our property interests while we reorganize,” Diamond Sports said in a statement. “This is an improper effort by the Suns to change their broadcasting partner without permitting Diamond to exercise our contractual rights.”
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