Atlanta Hawks Ditch Pay TV: Local Games Move to Prime Video at No Extra Cost
Starting next season, Hawks fans in five states can watch 74 local games through a Prime membership they likely already pay for -- or skip streaming entirely and watch free over the air.
What’s changing
Starting with the 2026-27 NBA season, Atlanta Hawks local broadcasts move exclusively to Amazon Prime Video – the first time an NBA team has handed all its locally distributed games to a streaming-only home. The team announced the shift on October 20, and it covers 74 regular-season games not already locked up for national broadcast. The season tips off October 21 against the Orlando Magic.
This matters for the wallet because it’s not really a “new subscription” story. If you already pay for Amazon Prime, Hawks games inside the team’s TV territory – which spans parts of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi – are included at no extra charge. There’s no separate Hawks streaming fee, no new app to buy, no regional sports network surcharge tacked onto a cable bill.
Who pays more, who doesn’t
Nobody in the Hawks’ footprint is being asked to pay more to keep watching. In fact, the arrangement gives fans two free-or-already-paid-for paths:
- Prime Video, if you’re already a Prime member, watchable on streaming boxes, smart TVs, phones and tablets.
- Free over-the-air TV, since the Hawks’ existing deal with Gray Media continues. Games will still air on WANF and Peachtree Sports Network, plus Gray stations across Georgia, for anyone with an antenna.
That second option is the real headline for anyone trying to trim their bill: you don’t need Prime, cable or a live-TV streaming bundle at all to follow the Hawks this season.
Outside the regional footprint, this deal changes nothing – those games were never part of a local RSN package to begin with.
Why this is happening now
The move lands as regional sports networks keep losing ground financially. The Hawks’ former RSN partner, FanDuel Sports Network, reportedly missed NBA media rights payments earlier this year, and its parent company, Main Street Sports Group, shut down entirely on September 30, 2026. Streaming deals like this one are increasingly filling the gap RSNs leave behind, and the NBA is reportedly building toward a centralized local-streaming hub of its own starting in 2027-28.
Amazon, meanwhile, keeps stacking basketball rights on top of Prime Video: the service already carries an expanded national NBA package this season, including NBA Cup games, the Play-In Tournament and the Eastern Conference Finals. Adding a full local team slate is a logical next step for a platform trying to make Prime’s entertainment value harder to cancel.
What to do about it
If you live in the Hawks’ five-state territory and already have Prime for shipping or Prime Video shows, you get 74 games added to your existing membership for $0 more – effectively free incremental value. If you don’t have Prime and don’t want it, check whether your area can pull in WANF, Peachtree Sports Network or a local Gray Media affiliate with an antenna; that keeps you at zero cost either way.
What you shouldn’t do is sign up for Prime specifically because of this deal without checking your local coverage map first – the streaming exclusivity only applies inside the designated territory, and games reserved for national broadcast air elsewhere regardless of your subscription. If you’re outside that footprint, this announcement doesn’t change your bill or your options at all.