Heat has a new TV home for 2026-27 season — WPLG Local 10. Here are the details
While there remains plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Miami Heat’s roster for next season amid its pursuit of Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, there’s now clarity on another front.
With FanDuel Sports Network (Main Street Sports Group) no longer carrying NBA games, the Heat has a new television home. The Heat announced Monday that it has expanded its media rights agreement with WPLG Local 10 to make the South Florida station the television home of Heat basketball for this upcoming season.
Beginning in October, WPLG will air all non-nationally televised Heat games on free, over-the-air television. The Heat will become the third NBA team to jump to an over-the-air affiliate as the primary way to distribute local game broadcasts, joining the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons.
Among South Florida’s biggest television providers, WPLG is available on Comcast, DirecTV satellite and Breezeline. But WPLG is not carried by YouTube TV, Dish, DirecTV streaming, Hulu or Fubo.
For those in South Florida with television providers that don’t have WPLG, Heat games will also be available on WPLG’s new free streaming platform, Local 10 Plus Platinum. This platform will allow Heat games to be watched by those in South Florida on smartphones, tablets and smart TVs for free.
“It was really important for us to try to find a broadcast partner that provided us with a tremendous amount of reach so that more of our fans in South Florida would have easy access to watch Heat games,” Heat executive vice president and chief marketing officer Michael McCullough said.
WPLG’s partnership with the Heat began this past season, when Local 10 carried 12 simulcast Heat games from FanDuel Sports Network.
This season, the expanded media rights agreement makes WPLG the new television home of the Heat. In addition, WPLG will be “providing fans with comprehensive programming from the team.”
“We are thrilled to carry a complete season of Miami Heat basketball for what should be a very exciting 2026-27 season,” WPLG president and CEO Bert Medina said in a statement. “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.”
The on-air talent for Heat games is expected to remain the same, with Eric Reid and John Crotty back as the Heat’s TV announcers. In addition, Jason Jackson, Amy Audibert, Will Manso, Kelly Saco and Jeremy Tache are also expected to remain part of the Heat’s television broadcast team.
“The great thing about the relationship with WPLG is that what the fans will notice really won’t be that much of a change,” McCullough said. “Our broadcast behind-the-scenes people are still the same. Our on-air talent is still the same. What we have now is a new relationship that allows more people to see our network quality broadcast and to hear that familiar call of Eric Reid and John Crotty for all games that are not being exclusively televised by a national broadcaster. So whatever the Heat fan has enjoyed for a number of years with our previous broadcast partner, they will get that and more with the relationship with WPLG.”
Fans in the northern half of Palm Beach County, Naples and Fort Myers who previously were able to watch Heat games on FanDuel Sports Network but don’t have access to WPLG’s signal will need to wait to learn which affiliates in those areas will carry Heat games. That process of identifying those affiliates is underway.
The Heat and WPLG will announce the full 2026-27 broadcast schedule, along with additional programming and content, after the NBA’s official schedule release in August.
But whether WPLG remains the Heat’s television home past this upcoming season remains to be seen.
“The one thing that we’ve seen in this broadcast landscape over the last few years is that things change, and the business is undergoing rapid evolution,” McCullough said. “So, we’re thrilled with the relationship that we have with WPLG. And it started last year with them doing some of the simulcast broadcasts.
“This year sees them step into the lead role. And we don’t know what the future holds, but we do know that we’ve developed a tremendous working relationship with the folks over at WPLG. They love the Heat. They love Heat basketball. And we really enjoy working with them. So, the opportunities for us for a future relationship with WPLG remain to be seen. But we’re excited about this relationship.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 10:01 AM.
