close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

OKC Thunder TV broadcast options for fans will increase in the 2024-2025 season
news

OKC Thunder TV broadcast options for fans will increase in the 2024-2025 season

Thunder season is just around the corner and with it begins an annual ritual for Thunder fans: making sure you can actually watch the games.

Figuring out if you can watch the Thunder on TV in recent years has been as challenging as defending Wemby’s fadeaway or putting up with Luka’s whining. But there is good news this season: if you had a method that allowed you to watch Thunder broadcasts last season, you don’t need to change anything.

Crazy, right?

After all these years of providers dropping the regional sports network formerly known as Fox Sports Oklahoma or a million other things, it feels strange to have a season that is the status quo. But if you had a cable provider or a streaming service or an on-demand option that showed Thunder games last season, you don’t have to change anything this season.

More: OU, OSU football is a mess right now, so thank goodness for the OKC Thunder | Carlson

But of course that doesn’t mean there is no change. After all, Diamond Sports Group is still involved in all of this, and since they’re in the middle of a big, messy bankruptcy, nothing is ever easy.

The change?

Bally Sports is now the FanDuel Sports Network. What you’ll see on screen will be slightly different – ​​the red Bally Sports color scheme is out, a blue and white FanDuel color scheme is in – but everything else will be the same. Same on-air talent for Thunder games. The same way to access the network.

“If someone has an active Bally subscription…the app will automatically update,” Thunder vice president of broadcasting Dan Mahoney said. “Logins remain the same and nothing changes except the name.”

What if you didn’t have Bally’s before, but now want FanDuel?

Go to getmyhometeams.com and enter your zip code. That will tell you if you are eligible to watch the Thunder on FanDuel and what options exist in your region.

For example, here are the options in my area code: Cox Communications, DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, Fubo, and a direct standalone subscription to FanDuel Sports Network, which can be purchased at fanduelsportsnetwork.com.

The cost for the standalone plan is $19.99 per month or $189.99.

Although the cost per month is better with the annual subscription – $15.83 versus $19.99 – I recommend going monthly if you only subscribe to the Thunder. The total bill will actually be cheaper.

Since Thursday’s season opener is in Denver on TNT, you don’t have to register until Saturday for the game in Chicago. You’ll get a seven-day trial period before your credit card is charged, which means you’ll start paying on November 2.

If you sign up for a monthly subscription and cancel after six months, you’ll go to May 2, which will take you through the regular season and even the first round of the playoffs.

All playoff games starting in the second round will be on TNT or ESPN/ABC.

Total cost for six months of FanDuel: $119.94.

I have the standalone plan and plan to stick with it, but after a friend mentioned that he used Fubo and really liked it, I decided to give it a try. I use Hulu Live, which is comparable in price to Fubo, but since Fubo includes FanDuel, I could potentially cancel my standalone subscription and Hulu and just have Fubo.

I’m not ready to pull the trigger on the road yet, but now that Fubo is offering a seven-day free trial, I think it’s worth checking out.

You might want to try it too.

But whatever you do to get the FanDuel broadcasts, it’s worth remembering that more Thunder games will be broadcast nationally than in recent seasons. Currently, 15 games appear on ABC, ESPN or TNT.

“That’s more access,” Mahoney said, “and then we have five Griffin simulcasts over the air. The difference between last year’s games at Griffin and this year’s is that last year’s were the only place to watch. This year, as a result of the agreement between Diamond and the NBA, actual simulcasts will take place.”

Last year, the games that aired only on Griffin were unavailable in some areas where people could see the games on Bally.

Not ideal.

But that won’t be a problem this season.

“We think all these different avenues allow for expanded access,” Mahoney said. “What we heard a lot is that people just wanted to watch their team.”

No doubt about that.

I know I’m done.

Are you?

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok and support her work and that of other Oklahoma journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

More: Could OKC Thunder rookie Dillon Jones help fill in for the injured Isaiah Hartenstein?

Every now and then we recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate commission. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently and this does not impact our reporting.