Suns and Mercury Extend Free Local Broadcasts with Gray Media Through 2030

Overview

• Player 15 Group and Gray Media announced on May 20, 2026 a four-year extension that keeps Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Valley Suns games on Arizona’s Family through 2030.
• The agreement pairs free over-the-air broadcasts with a new Arizona’s Family Sports (AZFS) app that will offer team-run direct-to-consumer channels called Suns+ and Merc+.
• Since switching from Bally Sports Arizona in 2023, the Suns have seen large viewership gains—more than 110,000 local viewers per game and top-four NBA local impressions—but have not fully recovered their prior roughly $36 million annual RSN-era rights fee.
• The long-term term signals confidence in the over-the-air model but could prevent the Suns from joining the NBA’s planned centralized local broadcast hub for 2027–28 unless the contract contains opt-out provisions.
• The move reflects a broader industry shift after RSN bankruptcies, with teams weighing trade-offs between wider free reach plus team-controlled streaming and the higher guaranteed fees that old regional sports networks once paid.