The Dallas Mavericks have secured a new multiyear local broadcast rights deal with TENGA, announced on Friday that will significantly increase the number of viewers who can watch most of the team’s NBA Western Conference championship games on television for free. This agreement will triple the audience size, reaching about 10 million people in over 3.1 million Texas households. At least 70 games will be available in the Dallas-Fort Worth market and on various stations in cities like Waco, Tyler, Midland-Odessa, Abilene, and San Angelo.
Following the mutual agreement last month between the Mavericks and Diamond Sports Group to end their existing rights deal for games on Bally Sports Southwest, this new partnership with TENGA will come into effect starting from the upcoming season. The Dallas Stars of the NHL had also terminated their agreement with Diamond, and the current deal for airing Texas Rangers’ MLB games on the regional sports network will conclude by the end of the ongoing season.
Patrick Dumont, the newly appointed governor of the Mavericks following an ownership change earlier in the year, expressed optimism about the extended reach of the games. He stated, “Our new agreement with TEGNA helps meaningfully deliver on that goal by broadcasting more games to more local homes than in any period in franchise history. Our goal is to make it as easy for as many Mavs fans to watch Mavs games as possible.”
Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Mavericks, revealed plans to introduce a streaming service in the next phase of the team’s TV broadcasts. While no specific timeline was provided, Marshall did not rule out the possibility of it happening during the upcoming season. Bally Sports Southwest had limited availability on popular streaming platforms, causing issues for fans of the Mavericks, Stars, and Rangers trying to watch games on the app.
In a similar move, the NHL’s Dallas Stars announced in July their decision to stream local game broadcasts directly to consumers at no cost. A seven-year agreement with A Parent Media Co. Inc. will make all Stars regional games accessible on a new streaming service called VICTORY+. Diamond Sports Group, the parent company in bankruptcy proceedings since last March, operates the networks under the Bally name.
