The long-running regional sports network (RSN) tumult that has gripped the NBA across the past year is close to resolving, as the Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic franchises have each found a new local broadcast partner for the 2026-27 campaign in the form of Cox Communications.
Cox’s networks in the Carolinas and the Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida, areas will broadcast live, free over-the-air linear coverage of Hornets and Magic games (in their respective areas) that are not selected for national TV coverage by the NBA’s national media partners.
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The package with the Magic will reportedly include a rights fee likely in the $8 million range.
For the Hornets, that will be the local ABC affiliate WSOC Channel 9 and TV64, which will air fixtures supported by pre- and post-game shoulder content and season-long ancillary content, off the back of several simulcasts on the networks in the 2025-26 campaign.
Hornets Sports & Entertainment president of business operations Shelly Cayette-Weston commented: “We're very excited to be on WSOC Channel 9 and TV64 this upcoming season, building on the tremendous success of last season's simulcasts, which expanded our reach, increased viewership, and made it easier for more fans to watch.
In Florida, meanwhile, that will encompass all local Magic broadcasts live on WRDQ TV 27, with select games on WFTV Channel 9, with similar additional content commitments.
Darren Moore, the vice president and general manager of WFTV and WRDQ stated: “Combining the brands of Central Florida’s news leader and the Orlando Magic together will foster a commitment to delivering high-quality local sports programming and creating new avenues for fans to connect with the team.”
This pair of agreements offers solidity for the Magic and the Hornets, at least in the short term, after the collapse of Main Street Sports Group (MSSG) and its FanDuel Sports Network brand of RSNs, which previously held local rights for both franchises, and a number of others.
While linear rights on the local level have been confirmed, both the Magic and the Hornets have said that they will announce local streaming rights at a later date, with reports surfacing suggesting that OTT streaming giant DAZN will continue its local rights push in the two markets.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, another former MSSG partner, recently became the first franchise to sell its local broadcast streaming rights to DAZN, which followed up quickly with carriage deals for New York area sports teams including the NBA champion New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.
DAZN had been in talks at the beginning of the year to acquire MSSG, but in waiting for the company’s collapse, the subsequent gap in the market and abundance of open contracts has allowed it to swoop in and take up rights it was already intending to take without the hassle of a company acquisition, albeit with a number of teams across the NBA, MLB, and NHL having struck deals elsewhere.
