Hawks make local games available on Prime Video in NBA first

The Prime Video deal

The Hawks said Prime Video will be the team's streaming home for local games in the 2026-27 season, with in-market fans able to watch with a Prime membership and no extra subscription. The team said it is the first NBA team to partner exclusively with Prime Video. The games will also remain free over the air on WANF and Peachtree Sports Network in Georgia.

Prime Video's digital exclusive covers 74 of the Hawks' 82 regular-season games, Deadline reported, and runs in parallel with the Gray Media broadcasts. The five-state territory is Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi. Deadline reported the final number can fluctuate based on several factors, including the preferences of national media partners.

The arrangement follows a July deal with Gray Media that put 74 non-national games free over the air on WANF and Peachtree Sports Network across Georgia, with Raycom Sports producing the broadcasts.

What fans pay

Awful Announcing put a standalone Prime Video subscription at $54 over the six-month regular season. Most NBA teams charge more than $100 for a season of local streams, and some charge more than $200, that outlet reported. The only cheaper arrangement it found was the Miami Heat, which streams on a free direct-to-consumer app called Local 10 Plus Platinum.

Why the Hawks changed course

The Hawks were one of 13 NBA teams that had to arrange new local deals after Main Street Sports Group collapsed, Awful Announcing reported. Sports Business Journal reported the Hawks are one of six former Main Street teams using a dual over-the-air and direct-to-consumer model; five are streaming exclusively on DAZN and two are testing a hybrid model. Teams in that position stand to lose millions in media revenue that regional sports networks previously paid. Whether advertising, merchandising and ticket sales close the gap is unclear, according to Awful Announcing.

Andrew Saltzman, the Hawks' president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer, told Deadline the team had ruled out selling subscriptions itself. "We didn't want to be in the direct-to-subscription selling business," he said. "We wanted to be in the ubiquity business."

Financial terms and the league context

Neither the Hawks nor Prime Video disclosed financial terms. Sports Business Journal, citing industry sources, described a one-year direct-to-consumer deal believed to be worth low seven figures, with Amazon taking 85% of the team's digital ad inventory.

Charlie Neiman, Prime Video's head of sports partnerships, said exclusively streaming the Hawks was part of a "growing local sports portfolio." Amazon already had seven NHL teams exclusively on Prime Video and hosts non-exclusive local broadcasts for more than 30 teams across the NHL, MLB and NBA, Sports Business Journal reported.

DAZN has acquired exclusive or digital local rights to 10 NBA teams, plus five more operated by DAZN-owned ViewLift, tying half the league to the service, according to Sports Business Journal. Awful Announcing reported the Hawks deal has an out after this season and that the NBA plans an aggregated local streaming hub for 2027-28. Sports Business Journal said the hub should place anywhere from 20 to 29 teams on a single service and described an impending bidding war between Amazon, DAZN and YouTube for it. YouTube is reportedly the frontrunner, Awful Announcing reported.

What happens next

The one-year deal leaves the Hawks' local rights back in play after this season, Awful Announcing reported. For now the games run on free over-the-air television and on Prime Video at the same time. The team said the two deals make the Hawks accessible to "one of the largest audiences in the NBA."