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The Atlanta Hawks announced a deal making Prime Video the exclusive streaming home for local games in the 2026-27 season, while maintaining free over-the-air broadcasts.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
The Atlanta Hawks have announced that Prime Video will serve as the exclusive streaming home for their local games during the 2026-27 NBA season. According to the Hawks, this agreement makes Atlanta the first NBA team to stream its local games exclusively on Prime Video. The move follows the dissolution of Main Street Sports, a regional sports network group that previously held the team's rights.
Games that are not exclusive national broadcasts will be included with a standard Prime membership for fans within the team's television territory. This territory spans parts of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi. The Hawks stated that 74 regular-season games are scheduled for these television broadcasts and Prime Video streaming.
In addition to streaming, fans will retain a free television option. Under a partnership announced in July, local games will air over the air on WANF and Peachtree Sports Network, with coverage through Gray Media stations across Georgia. Raycom Sports will produce the local broadcasts. The Hawks open the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Orlando Magic, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
The shift in broadcasting rights follows the bankruptcy of Main Street Sports Group, which could not overcome subscriber losses. Source 2 notes that the collapse of regional sports networks (RSNs) has prompted a paradigm shift in rights management. Prime Video has been streaming games of more than 30 teams across Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL and WNBA in the wake of these changes.
Andrew Saltzman, president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer of the Hawks and State Farm Arena, said the team viewed the demise of Main Street as a chance to regroup. "We didn’t want to be in the direct-to-subscription selling business," Saltzman said. "We wanted to be in the ubiquity business." He added that the return of local TV as a destination for live sports made the Gray arrangement "a really interesting lane" alongside the Prime Video deal.
Saltzman also stated, "We are committed to putting our fans first and maximizing accessibility throughout the state of Georgia and the Southeast." He noted that getting maximum reach was paramount in the decision-making process.
Charlie Neiman, Head of Sports Partnerships, Prime Video, said in a statement that the deal is part of a growing local sports portfolio. "Exclusively streaming the Atlanta Hawks as part of our growing local sports portfolio is another step forward in providing fans an easy, one-stop destination to watch the teams they love," Neiman said. "The Hawks have demonstrated a forward-thinking approach to reaching and engaging their fans and share the same commitment to innovation that drives our organization. Together, we’re making it easier than ever for fans across the Southeast to watch their team."
This deal illustrates how professional sports teams are adapting to the collapse of traditional regional sports networks by combining streaming exclusivity with free over-the-air broadcasts. By leveraging Amazon's Prime Video platform alongside Gray Media's local TV infrastructure, the Hawks aim to maximize accessibility for fans in the Southeast without requiring additional subscriptions beyond standard Prime membership.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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