The Miami Heat, of North American basketball’s top-tier NBA, have expanded their local rights agreement with independent television station WPLG Local 10 for the 2026-27 season.
The new agreement will see WPLG Local 10 continue as the official local free-to-air broadcast home of the Heat in South Florida, with the station to air all non-nationally televised Heat games live, ensuring access to 5.8 million viewers.
WPLG president and chief executive Bert Medina said: “No matter where our viewers want to watch the Miami Heat on cable, satellite, over-the-air antenna, or our free streaming app.
“Our mission is to make sure they have easy direct access to every game on our air.”
Beyond live games, WPLG Local 10 will provide ancillary programming, including coverage of the Heat’s Annual Gala Special and Family Festival Special, as well as “additional exclusive” content.
Along with coverage on its linear channel, the Heat’s games and specials will also be available on Local 10’s platform, Local10+ Platinum, which is accessible via Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android TV, LG Smart TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, iPhone, Android mobile devices, tablets, and any web browser.
Michael McCullough, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the Miami Heat, said: “Last season was a great experience not only for the HEAT and Local 10, but the fans as well.
“The increased viewership proved the strength of this partnership, and the benefit of having the local reach of WPLG was unmistakable. We’re looking forward to taking this to the next level this upcoming season and giving HEAT Nation a truly special viewing experience.”
The Heat are the latest NBA franchise to announce a local rights deal ahead of the 2026-27 season, with the Detroit Pistons securing US media company E.W Scripps as their new local broadcast partner in May.
The Pistons had been looking for a new local TV partner, alongside 12 other NBA teams, for next season, ever since it was revealed that the Main Street Sports group of local channels would be shutting down.
The same month, Mat Ishbia, the US businessman and owner of the Phoenix Suns (NBA) and Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) basketball franchises, agreed a multi-year extension with local broadcast partner Gray Media, which will continue to showcase all Suns and Mercury home games not selected for national coverage live and free-to-air (FTA) through 2030.
