Two years after becoming the first NBA franchise to walk away from a struggling regional sports network, the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury are celebrating what many now see as a proof of concept.
The teams have agreed to a two-year extension with Gray Media that will keep their games available free over the air across Arizona through the 2027-28 season. According to sources familiar with the deal, the contract is worth more than $30 million annually, effectively restoring the revenue they left behind when they cut ties with Diamond Sports in 2023.
When owner Mat Ishbia made the decision to abandon the traditional RSN model, it was viewed as a risky experiment. Diamond Sports, then in bankruptcy, even attempted to block the move in court. But Ishbia insisted that accessibility was more important than clinging to a fading business model. The organization distributed thousands of free antennas to fans and launched direct-to-consumer streaming platforms, Suns+ and Merc+, to ensure that games could be watched by anyone in Arizona without the barrier of expensive cable packages.
The results have been undeniable. Suns broadcasts have more than doubled in local ratings since moving to free television, while the Mercury have seen their viewership soar by more than 400 percent, a surge that coincides with the WNBA’s broader rise in popularity. For Ishbia, the extension with Gray Media validates the vision he laid out two years ago: that growing the fan base through accessibility would ultimately pay off both culturally and financially.
The success in Phoenix has not gone unnoticed. Other franchises, including the Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets, and New Orleans Pelicans, have since followed suit by shifting games to free local TV as the regional sports network model continues to collapse under the weight of cord-cutting and declining subscriptions. With nearly half the league’s RSN contracts set to expire in the next two years, the Suns and Mercury have positioned themselves as pioneers of a new era in sports broadcasting.
For the WNBA’s Mercury, the exposure has been especially transformative, giving the team unprecedented reach in Arizona and helping to elevate women’s basketball in the state. For the Suns, the deal ensures that fans across the region can continue to watch their team without barriers, while also securing the financial stability that skeptics once doubted.
What began as a bold gamble has now become a blueprint. By extending their partnership with Gray Media, the Suns and Mercury have shown that free broadcast television, once thought to be a relic of the past, may in fact be the future of local sports distribution.
