Cavs rank last in local broadcast accessibility report

We’re in a weird and fractured time for TV. Streaming services have made traditional cable packages more obsolete. This has left live sports in a weird spot, specifically in regard to local TV broadcasts.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been caught in the midst of this change. Their previous cable partner, FanDuel Sports Network, shut down at the end of last season. As a result, the Cavs and four other NBA teams turned to DAZN, a sports streaming company, to carry their local broadcasts. The Cavs announced a multi-year deal with DAZN earlier in September.

Advertisement

It costs $119.99 to watch the Cavs’ DAZN broadcast this season. There’s also a $139.99 ultimate tier that allows for more streams and alternative angles and feeds. That dollar amount is in line with most other teams that offer a season subscription. However, the lack of over-the-air broadcasts or alternative ways to watch Cavs games locally through cable led Awful Announcing to rank the Cavs last in their local broadcast accessibility rankings.

Awful Announcing’s criteria for ranking all 30 teams were simple and are explained below:

“Methodology: Each team was compared based on the cost of its direct-to-consumer streaming service, the number of major cable providers on which it is available, the number of exclusive national games, the number of over-the-air games, and the number of streaming-exclusive games“

They used that criteria to measure every team and conclude that the Cavs were the least accessible. Here’s their explanation as to why:

“The Cleveland Cavaliers are the least accessible NBA team to watch for the 2026-27 season. The main reason is that they are one of five teams not available on cable, as they signed an exclusive deal with DAZN. What makes them worse than the other four teams? They will have 59 games exclusive to streaming, including DAZN, which costs $120. Then, 10 other games will be on other platforms because they are national exclusives. If the Cavaliers’ local games were on cable, that wouldn’t be such a big problem, since the package would include the national games. But because they aren’t, fans will need to subscribe to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cavs-rank-last-local-broadcast-170050672.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-21 17:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.