NBA Unveils 2026-27 Schedule: 247 National Games, Opening Night Triple-Header on NBC and Peacock
The NBA released its full 2026-27 regular season schedule on August 13, placing 247 games across three media partners — Disney (ABC and ESPN), NBCUniversal (NBC and Peacock), and Amazon Prime Video — with the season tipping off October 20 on NBC and Peacock (Deadline).
ABC and NBC alone will carry a combined 90 games, a 14% increase over the 79 broadcast network games last season. Those broadcast windows fall on Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Across all rightsholders, the 247 national games represent the full footprint of the league's new media era, which began when 11-year rights deals with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Prime Video took effect in 2025 (Yahoo Sports).
Opening night delivers a triple-header on NBC and Peacock: Boston Celtics vs Detroit Pistons at 3 p.m. ET, Philadelphia 76ers vs New York Knicks at 7 p.m. ET, and Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs capping the night (NBA.com). The following night, October 21, ABC and ESPN take over with Minnesota vs Miami at 7:30 p.m. ET and Golden State vs Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. ET (NBA.com).
Christmas Day carries five games across ABC and ESPN, headlined by a rematch of last season's NBA Finals: New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs. The Minnesota Timberwolves will host a Christmas Day game for the first time in franchise history, facing the Oklahoma City Thunder on ABC (Timberwolves).
The Knicks and Spurs lead the league in national exposure, with 34 of their 82 regular season games scheduled on a national-rights outlet. The Celtics sit at 27 national games (Yahoo Sports). The Golden State Warriors have 28 nationally televised games, split across NBC (eight), Amazon Prime and ESPN (seven each), ABC (three), and another outlet (three) (Warriors).
Two games for every team remain unscheduled. Their matchups and timing will be set by the outcome of early rounds of the Emirates Cup, the in-season tournament added to the NBA calendar in 2023, which streams on Prime Video (Deadline).
All-Star Weekend 2027 begins February 19, a few days after the Super Bowl, with ESPN and NBC/Peacock each carrying portions of the festivities. The All-Star Game itself is scheduled for Sunday, February 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, at 5 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock — the closing event of the 2026 All-Star Weekend (NBC Sports).
The NBA's official schedule announcement was published on its press domain, pr.nba.com, presenting game slates for all three broadcast partners (NBA Press).
