Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers on TV has become a challenge for fans this season.
“It's like the games are a floating craps game,” said Ideastream Public Media sports commentator Terry Pluto. “You don't know where you're going to find them. Are they on Peacock where a couple of games are? Are they on Prime Video?”
The Cavs' local TV home shifted from SportsChannel Ohio to Fox Sports Ohio, then Bally Sports and FanDuel as the regional sports network business unraveled. After its parent company faced bankruptcy and financial trouble, Main Street Sports Group announced it would wind down operations in 2026, forcing the Cavs to find a new broadcast partner.
The team ultimately signed a multiyear deal with DAZN, reportedly worth about $20 million annually, a roughly 43% decrease from its previous contract.
DAZN initially made 15 games available to stream for free. It also struck a deal with DirecTV and U-verse, making Cavs games available to those subscribers and expanding access beyond its streaming platform.
The challenges facing the Cavs reflect a broader trend across professional sports.
“This is going on, this chaos for finding games, is going on all over the NBA," Pluto said. "It started some with baseball a year ago. It's just getting worse."
The Guardians faced similar challenges earlier than many other MLB teams. They left Bally Sports Great Lakes after the 2024 season and partnered with Major League Baseball to produce and distribute their games beginning in 2025. Fans can watch through local cable and satellite providers, the team's streaming service, CLEGuardians.TV, and select free over-the-air broadcasts on WKYC.
Pluto said the NFL has largely avoided these problems because its games are tied to lucrative national television contracts.
“They're just a powerhouse because they have only 17 regular season games," Pluto said. "It's not like … where you put on 162 games in baseball or 82 in basketball."
The shifting broadcast landscape is particularly difficult for fans who rely on traditional cable, Pluto said
“It's too bad because, especially an older fan base, I mean, I know people that build their days around watching the games," Pluto said. "Some people I know, I have a cousin who had been battling cancer for quite a while and the Guardians, I mean he just could not wait for the next Guardians game.”
Pluto said the future of sports broadcasting remains uncertain.
“It seems like the leagues have not been able to come up with a really good system of how to present their games," Pluto said. You know what they're gonna find is, like people just say, 'Well, forget it. I don't need to see these games all the time.'”
Pluto said teams must consider how these changes affect the people who have supported them for years.
“At least Guardians TV was able to cut deals with both Spectrum and Direct TV," Pluto said. "So those of us who are kind of stuck in the older way of doing it, we're still able to get the games. Now that was last year. Will that be this way this year? You don't know. And that's your problem... And now you're making it hard for people to be loyal TV fans of your team. And that's got to change.”
