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    • OKC Thunder TV broadcast options for fans will increase in the 2024-25 season
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    OKC Thunder TV broadcast options for fans will increase in the 2024-25 season

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    Thunder season is upon us, and with it begins an annual ritual for Thunder fans: making sure you can actually watch the games.

    Figuring out whether to watch Thunder on TV has been as challenging in recent years as defending Wemby’s fadeaway or enduring Luka’s whining. But there’s good news this season: If you had a method that allowed you to watch last season’s Thunder broadcasts, you don’t need to change anything.

    Crazy, right?

    After all these years of providers abandoning the regional sports network formerly known as Fox Sports Oklahoma or a million other things, it feels strange to have a season that is status quo. But if you had a cable provider, streaming service or on-demand option that showed Thunder games last season, you don’t need to change anything this season.

    More: OU, OSU football is a mess right now so thank goodness for the OKC Thunder | Carlson

    Of course, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any change. After all, Diamond Sports Group is still caught up in all of this, and since they’re in the middle of a big, bad bankruptcy, nothing is easy.

    The change?

    Bally Sports is now the FanDuel Sports Network. What you’ll see on screen will be slightly different – Bally Sports’ red color scheme is out, a blue-and-white FanDuel color scheme is in – but everything else will be the same. Same on-air talent for Thunder games. Same way to access the network.

    “If someone has an active Bally subscription … the app should automatically update,” said Dan Mahoney, vice president of broadcasting at Thunder. “The registrations remain the same and apart from the name nothing changes.”

    What if you didn’t have Bally’s before, but now you want FanDuel?

    Go to getmyhometeams.com and enter your zip code. This will let you know if you are eligible to watch the Thunder on FanDuel and what options are available in your region.

    For example, here are the options in my area code: Cox Communications, DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, Fubo, and a direct individual subscription to FanDuel Sports Network, which can be purchased at fanduelsportsnetwork.com.

    The cost of the individual subscription is $19.99 per month or $189.99.

    While the monthly cost is better with the annual plan – $15.83 instead of $19.99 – I recommend paying monthly if you only subscribe to the Thunder. The overall bill will actually be cheaper.

    With Thursday’s season opener in Denver on TNT, you won’t need to register until the Saturday before the Chicago game. You’ll get a seven-day trial before your credit card is charged. This means you can start paying on November 2nd.

    If you sign up for a monthly subscription and cancel after six months, you’ll get through to May 2nd, which gets you through the regular season and even the first round of the playoffs.

    All playoff games will be broadcast on TNT or ESPN/ABC starting in the second round.

    Total cost for six months of FanDuel: $119.94.

    I have the individual subscription and plan on sticking with it, but after a friend mentioned that he was using Fubo and I really liked it, I decided to give it a try. I use Hulu Live, which is priced similarly to Fubo, but since Fubo includes FanDuel, I could potentially cancel my individual subscription and Hulu and only have Fubo.

    I’m not ready to pull the trigger on the go yet, but since Fubo offers a seven-day free trial, I think it’s worth taking a look.

    You might want to try it too.

    But whatever you do to get the FanDuel broadcasts, it’s worth remembering that there are more Thunder games being broadcast nationally than in the last few seasons. There are currently 15 games broadcast on ABC, ESPN or TNT.

    “That means more access,” Mahoney said, “and then we have five over-air Griffin simulcasts.” The difference between last year’s games on Griffin and this year’s games is that last year’s games were the only place on which you could watch. There will be actual simulcasts this year due to the agreement between Diamond and the NBA.”

    Last year, the games that were only broadcast on Griffin were not available in some areas where people could watch the games on Bally.

    Not ideal.

    But that won’t be an issue this season.

    “We believe all of these different opportunities allow for expanded access,” Mahoney said. “We often heard that people just wanted to watch their team.”

    There is no doubt about that.

    I know I’m ready.

    Are you?

    Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoma journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

    More: Could OKC Thunder rookie Dillon Jones help replace injured Isaiah Hartenstein?

    NBA season opener

    Thunder at Nuggets: 9 p.m. Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver (FDSN)

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    Idris Bevan
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