Another team is moving to put its games on broadcast, with Tegna’s San Antonio station, KENS, getting an agreement to air 11 Spurs basketball games.
The Spurs are one of the National Basketball Association’s most interesting teams with 7-foot, 4-inch star rookie Victor Wembanyama starting his career.
Most of the Spurs games are expected to be televised over regional sports network Bally Sports Southwest, part of Sinclair’s bankrupt Diamond Sports Group. Some games will also be broadcast by KMYS in San Antonio, which is owned by Deerfield Media and operated by Sinclair.
Tegna said Spurs games appearing on KENS, a CBS affiliate, will be available to more than 1 million households in the San Antonio region via over the air, the KENS 5 streaming app, the official Spurs mobile app and through the station’s distribution deals with cable, satellite and streaming services that offer live TV programming.
“As fans gear up for an epic season, we’re pleased to partner with the Spurs and the NBA to bring these 11 heart-pounding games to every single household across San Antonio,” said Brad Ramsey, senior VP, media operations at Tegna. “As local broadcasters, our stations have always been the home for live, local sports and lifelong sports fans. We’re incredibly proud of this partnership with the world-class Spurs Sports & Entertainment organization.”
The first game broadcast by KENS will come Nov. 20 when the Spurs play the Los Angeles Clippers.
Since last year, Nexstar Media Group’s KTLA has broadcast some Clippers games in California. This season, Utah Jazz games will be on Sinclair's KJZZ Salt Lake City, and the Phoenix Suns can be watched on Gray Television's KTVK and KPHE.
NHL teams are also moving to broadcast, with the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights and Phoenix Coyotes airing on stations owned by E.W. Scripps.
