The NBA is looking to flex its own viewership muscle with Tuesday’s release of the initial part of its 2026–27 regular-season schedule, but the influence of the NFL was still impossible to miss.
The run-up to the NBA season began in earnest with the unveiling of the league’s opening night and Christmas Day games, with each set of contests leaning heavily in to marquee teams and players such as the defending champion Knicks, the Spurs and their phenom Victor Wembanyama, and the 76ers and newly acquired icon LeBron James.
The announcement of these games precedes Wednesday’s drop of additional showcase and NBA Cup games, and Thursday’s planned release of the entire 2026–27 slate. While the NBA has used various strategies over the years for its schedule unveiling, including a multiday effort last year with the arrival of new media-rights deals, this latest effort echoes the one now perfected by the NFL.
In May, the NFL and each of its domestic rights holders conducted a series of high-profile game reveals over a three-day period in advance of the full schedule drop on May 14.
For the NBA, the schedule dynamics are somewhat different, as the league still plays more than four times the number of games as the NFL does. But the core principles are very much the same: Both leagues are rallying heavily around their top teams and players, have a major presence during many fall and winter holidays, and want to establish as much early-season viewership momentum as possible.
