Two weeks ago, it became known that Bally Sports Southwest will not be the home of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks for the 2024-2025 season. On Friday, the team owned by Miriam Adelson and led by CEO Cynt Marshall revealed who its new TV partner will be, and it is TEGNA.
And, the agreement extends beyond the upcoming NBA season, as all Mavericks games not exclusively television nationally will be broadcast on TEGNA-owned stations across the territory in Texas that belongs to the team. It’s part of a just-signed multi-year broadcast rights deal TEGNA says “triples” the current number of households the Mavericks can reach across the Lone Star State.
TEGNA’s coverage commences on October 26, with the Mavericks’ matchup against the Phoenix Suns airing on KMPX-29 in Dallas-Fort Worth. In the Metroplex, KMPX will air at least 70 Mavericks games, with 15 simulcast on ABC affiliate WFAA-8.
Concurrent with the arrival of Mavericks games to KMPX, Spanish-language programming courtesy of Estrella TV will be moving to an undisclosed new broadcast home between now and the start of the NBA season. KMPX was acquired in November 2020 by TEGNA in a $19 million transaction with Estrella Media.
Outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth market, Mavericks games will air on TEGNA-owned KAGS-LD 23 and KCEN-6 in Temple-Waco; KYTX-19 in Tyler-Longview; KWES-9 in Midland-Odessa; KXVA-15 in Abilene; and KIDY-6 in San Angelo, Tex.
TEGNA will work with partner broadcast companies to announce additional Texas markets in the coming days, the company said.
While KMPX will be the originating station for Mavericks games, WFAA-8 is becoming the official local broadcast partner of the Dallas Mavericks and will take the lead on Mavericks coverage, with lead sports anchor Joe Trahan delivering exclusive coverage across the station’s newscasts.
“This is an incredible day for Mavs fans and our partners across Texas, and we are grateful to the Mavericks organization for their partnership and trust,” TEGNA SVP of Media Operations Brad Ramsey said. “Mavericks fans, our audience, and our advertising partners had an unbelievable reaction to the 10 games we made available last season, and we are thrilled to build off of that momentum and make every game, home or away, available to more fans, in more homes.”
WFAA VP/Station Manager Carolyn Mungo added, “Our team is passionate about giving our audience great local stories, and this further cements WFAA as the go-to place for live, local sports. Our team could not be more excited to help take the Mavericks viewership to new heights.”
Patrick Dumont, governor of the Mavericks, commented, “We are looking forward to giving Dallas Mavericks fans every opportunity possible to watch our exciting team build on the momentum of its incredible run to the NBA Finals last season. Our new agreement with TEGNA helps meaningfully deliver on that goal by broadcasting more games to more local homes than in any period in franchise history. Through our new partnership with TEGNA and our expanded relationship with WFAA, more Mavs fans than ever before will be able to watch the team they love.”
Marshall added, “We are excited to tip off the new season by bringing our games to more MFFLs across Texas. It was a pleasure working with TEGNA last season to deliver additional viewing experiences for ten games. Building on the overwhelmingly positive feedback received, we look forward to providing millions more Mavs fans access to watch our games throughout the entire season.”
