The NBA's Los Angeles Clippers have signed a multi-year agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group to remain on regional sports network Bally Sports SoCal, a renewal announced last than two weeks before the Oct. 20 tipoff of the NBA regular season.
Bally Sports will produce, televise and stream 63 regular-season Clippers games this season, with viewers outside the pay TV ecosystem able to access the 19 Bally Sports channels for the first time over-the-top via subscription streaming service Bally Sports Plus.
Also read: What Does the Return of the Clippers to Broadcast TV Mean to the RSN Business?
Brian Sieman, Jim Jackson and Mike Fratello will return to call Clippers games on Bally Sports SoCal, joined by on-court reporters Kristina Pink and Jaime Maggio. The half-hour show Clippers Weekly will also return to Bally Sports SoCal, which is also the RSN home of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels and the NHL's Anaheim Ducks.
In addition to coverage throughout Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii, all Clippers games on Bally Sports SoCal will be available to fans located in the San Diego market on Bally Sports San Diego.
Separately last month, the Clippers, now owned by Microsoft co-founder Steve Ballmer, signed an agreement to show four preseason games and 11 regular-season contests on Nextstar-owned KTLA-TV. Clippers games will also be simulcast on KSWB San Diego, KGET Bakersfield and KSEE Fresno.
The Clippers had a long association with KTLA, airing their games on the broadcast outlet from 1985-1991 and 2002-2009. The broadcast arrangement has been described by the team as being complimentary to the RSN deal, one meant to open up TV access further for Clippers fans.
The Clippers, which currently enjoy some of the more favorable odds to win this season's NBA title, will also have 32 games shown on national outlets TNT, ESPN and ABC.
The Clippers have had long-running relationship with Bally Sports SoCal, dating back to the channel's launch three decades ago by the late Jerry Buss, former owner of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The channel existed as Fox Sports West when it was acquired by Disney in 2019 and immediately sold to Sinclair, along with the other Fox Sports RSNs, in a deal valued at nearly $10 billion.
