The NBA’s 2025-26 rights overhaul rewrote what League Pass is worth. TNT’s exit from the national TV package, the addition of NBC Peacock and Amazon Prime as primary partners, and the corresponding shift in which games end up on national TV versus blacked out on League Pass — all of it changes the basic math of which subscription tier suits which fan. The League Pass tiers themselves haven’t changed much in pricing, but what gets blocked behind the national TV blackout has shifted significantly.
The headline: League Pass is more useful than it was in 2024-25, but the path to “every game my team plays” now requires more than just League Pass for most fans. The blackout map for 2025-26 is more complex because NBC Peacock and Amazon Prime have their own exclusive windows, and those windows blanket more games than the old TNT and ESPN packages did. Translating: the casual out-of-market fan needs League Pass plus Peacock plus Amazon Prime plus the local cable bundle to actually catch every game their team plays this season.
The League Pass tiers, 2026
League Pass Standard — $14.99 a month or $99.99 for the full season (October through April). All out-of-market games, no local market access. Includes the full classic library of past seasons. Five concurrent streams allowed.
League Pass Premium — $19.99 a month or $124.99 for the full season. Adds in-arena audio (the home team’s broadcast booth without the TV crew’s commentary), full-game replays without the time delay, multi-game viewing on the iPad app, and the NBA TV channel as a streaming feed.
Team Pass (single-team League Pass) — $19.99 a month per team, or $129.99 for the full season per team. All out-of-market games for one specific team. Useful for transplants — Lakers fans in Boston, Celtics fans in Phoenix, Warriors fans in Florida.
International League Pass — Available outside the US, different pricing per country. Not subject to the US local market blackouts because the local market doesn’t exist outside the US.
What League Pass blocks
National TV games on ESPN, ABC, NBC, Peacock, and Amazon Prime are blocked on League Pass during the live broadcast window. After the game ends, the replay becomes available on League Pass within roughly three hours.
Local market games are blocked. If you live in the LA Designated Market Area and try to watch a Lakers game on League Pass, the stream is blocked because the Lakers play on Spectrum SportsNet LA in the LA market. League Pass is strictly out-of-market.
Christmas Day games are typically blocked because they all air on ABC or ESPN national TV.
The NBA Cup (the in-season tournament knockout games) is partially blocked because TNT used to carry it and Amazon Prime now does. Final and semi-final games go to Amazon Prime exclusive.
What changed for 2025-26
The Inside the NBA studio show (Charles, Kenny, Ernie, and Shaq) survived TNT’s exit and now airs on ESPN as a TNT Sports-produced show licensed to ESPN’s airtime. The Tuesday and Thursday TNT national doubleheader windows are dead; ESPN takes Tuesday with Inside the NBA, Amazon Prime takes Thursday and adds a new Saturday primetime window.
NBC Peacock takes the Sunday night NBA window and a Tuesday primetime window. Amazon Prime Video takes Friday and Saturday primetime, plus the new in-season NBA Cup knockout coverage. ESPN/ABC retains Wednesday national doubleheader, the Christmas Day slate, and the playoffs / Finals.
The blackout effect: a Lakers fan out of market in 2024-25 needed League Pass plus a YouTube TV bundle (for ESPN, TNT) to catch every game their team played. In 2025-26, the same Lakers fan out of market needs League Pass plus a YouTube TV bundle plus Peacock at $7.99 plus Amazon Prime at $14.99 to cover every game. The total monthly cost is roughly $40 higher than 2024-25.
Which tier suits which fan
Casual out-of-market fan, single team focus — Team Pass at $129.99 for the season is the cheapest path. Add Peacock and Amazon Prime if you want the national windows.
Multi-team out-of-market fan — League Pass Standard at $99.99 for the season is the better deal. Premium is rarely worth the extra $25 unless you specifically want the in-arena audio.
Local market fan — Skip League Pass entirely. Cable subscription via Spectrum (LA), Comcast (Boston, Philly), Charter (Charlotte) covers your team’s regional broadcasts. Add Peacock and Amazon Prime for the national windows.
Daily NBA viewer (out-of-market) — League Pass Premium at $124.99 plus Peacock plus Amazon Prime. Roughly $25 a month combined for the full out-of-market national plus League Pass package. Useful for the bar regular who watches every primetime game.
What League Pass is missing
The local-market blackout is the biggest gap. League Pass should let you watch your home team — that’s the most basic feature an MLB.tv-equivalent product would offer. The NBA’s licensing structure with the regional sports networks means it doesn’t and probably won’t until the next major media deal.
The streaming UX has improved but isn’t great. The NBA app’s video player runs reliably on iOS and Android but has occasional issues on Apple TV and Roku. The multi-view feature on League Pass Premium is limited compared to NFL Sunday Ticket’s multi-view on YouTube TV. The classic game library is large but poorly organised.
The bar-friendly verdict
For a bar showing the NBA: League Pass Premium ($124.99 for the season) plus a YouTube TV bundle (ESPN, ABC) plus Peacock and Amazon Prime. Roughly $30 a month combined for full national coverage plus the out-of-market double-header windows. The 2025-26 season requires more services than 2024-25 to catch every game, but the total cost is comparable once you factor in TNT’s exit removing one package from the mix.
For the casual fan: Team Pass at $129.99 a season is the cheapest path to watching one specific team out-of-market. Add Peacock and Amazon Prime if you want the national windows. That’s roughly $20 a month for a full single-team out-of-market season.
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