The Detroit Pistons announced a new television partnership for the 2026-27 campaign
Towards the tail end of last season, Detroit Pistons fans were thrown through a loop when the television scheduling format of the team changed just before the end of the year.
With five games left in the regular season slate, the Pistons shifted their games away from Bally Sports and back toward a local, free over-the-air source for the Motown fans before heading into the playoffs. Then at the end of the second round, the Pistons announced that they’d reached an agreement with Scripps Sports that would take place at the start of the 2026-27 campaign to bring consistent, dependable television coverage to the Motor City airwaves.
As a result, the Pistons announced earlier today that The Spot Grand Rapids 17 and FOX WXMI-17, which is owned and operated by the E.W. Scripps Company, will host Detroit hoops games moving forward.
“We are proud to expand our partnership with the Detroit Pistons to deliver their games to more people than ever before through free, over the air TV— one of the best ways to connect teams with their fans,” said E.W. Scripps Company regional vice president and general manager Mike Murri.
In the release, the station mentioned that they are ”honored” to be the official home of Detroit Basketball in Grand Rapids and that it’s a partnership which should help establish a strong connection between fans and the squad after a 60-win regular season last year.
”The Spot Grand Rapids 17 will air locally available pre-season and regular season games,” the release stated. “Fans will be able to watch games for free via over-the-air television, as well as through participating cable and satellite providers. As part of the partnership, the Pistons and Scripps Sports will produce comprehensive game day coverage, including pre-game, in-game and post-game programming. The agreement also provides a weekly, half-hour Pistons show, along with original team focused content integrated across broadcasts and digital programming.”
As a whole, the Pistons are moving forward into an era that strives to better connect fans with the team they follow, and that’s why it is important to offer their games over the air for free so that the subscription-shuffle right before tip-off becomes a ritual of the past.
“As we are seeing right now, the fandom around the Pistons is high and every fan deserves to have access to Detroit Pistons games,” Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor said back in May. “Scripps Sports is proud to partner with the Pistons to deliver their games to more fans than ever before – because the best team in the East deserves the best broadcast platform in the NBA.”
Last season, the Pistons posted top 10 attendance in the NBA for the second consecutive season, which shows that the team has the full support of the region, and now the fans have another avenue they can utilize to follow their hoops squad even closer for the upcoming year.
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