The Mavericks TV broadcast situation is improving, but there is more work to be done

The Dallas Mavericks TV broadcast situation has been a mess, to say the least. Around four years ago when Fox Sports Southwest shifted to Bally Sports, it's been complicated for fans in the DFW area (and those outside of it) to easily watch the Mavericks when they weren't on national TV (ESPN or TNT). TV Providers stopped carrying the station, the company that owned Bally Sports went bankrupt, and the future of how to watch the Mavericks was uncertain.

Over the last few months the Mavericks have done their best to clear things up. They have severed their ties with Bally Sports, and are putting every single regular season game that isn't exclusive to national networks on free, over-the-air channels. That is, objectively, a good thing! Every pro sports team should have the option for over-the-air in their local markets. It means every Mavericks fan that wants to watch the Mavericks can do so without a monthly subscription — just a one-time purchase of a TV antenna, which have adapted to modern TVs.

On Thursday morning, the Mavericks and TENGA had more good news, relatively, as eight additional markets will now carry the Mavericks over-the-air. Here are those eight new markets:

Amarillo, TX – KFDA 10.2 El Paso, TX – KDBC 4.2 Harlingen-Brownsville, TX – KGBT 4.1 Laredo, TX – KXNU 10.2 Lubbock, TX – KMYL 14.1 Sherman, TX – KXII 12.2 Shreveport, LA & Texarkana, TX – KSHV 45.1 Wichita Falls, TX & Lawton, OK – KJBO 3.2 The Mavericks provided a handy graphic to show all markets that now carry the games over-the-air, which covers most of the state:

As I said before, this is objectively a good thing! Now instead of paying a monthly rate for either a live TV service like cable, satellite or streaming, or paying a monthly rate for Bally Sports+, a fan living in a supported market can make a one-time purchase of a TV antenna and watch 70+ Mavericks games this season.

In addition to over-the-air, this new local channel that is running a majority of the games, KFAA channel 29, will be available on the following live TV providers: AT&T U-verse TV, Charter Spectrum, DIRECTV, DISH, Frontier Fiber Keller, Fubo, GEUS, Grande Communications, OneSource Communications and Optimum.

However, there are still plenty of issues the Mavericks will need to work out, with some in progress and some to be detailed:

You'll notice two big omissions in the live TV providers for channel 29: YouTube TV and Hulu. Those are major, major players in the live TV market, and right now only one streaming service, Fubo, will carry channel 29 (it is unclear right now if DirecTV Stream will include channel 29). That means if you're using YouTube TV or Hulu, you will need to cancel your service and either hop back onto cable or satellite, or switch to Fubo. Oh and one more thing: Fubo does not have TNT (YouTube and Hulu do!), so that means you'll have to purchase a subscription to Max to watch those games. Frustrating! "Oh well, then just buy an antenna" is the response I've seen to the concerns of those who have YouTube or Hulu, and sure, buying an antenna is a great option for some people, but it isn't a one-size fits all solution. Over-the-air requires an antenna for every TV, and does not allow you to watch on multiple devices like a phone, tablet, or computer. It also doesn't easily provide DVR support (without some legitimate technical know-how and more money). I can't speak for everyone, but not having the ability to record or pause games, nor have the ability to watch on multiple devices is a tough sell for those that share their home, have a family, and have kids. If I was single, living alone and didn't need to write and podcast about the Mavericks, an antenna works great! But as any parent will tell you, having multiple screen options and the ability to pause are crucial. I've already spoken to a few friends who have YouTube TV who are Mavericks fans but maybe not hardcore fans, and their answer to this is they'll just not watch when the games are exclusively on channel 29. For most casual fans, if the options are to do more stuff/change your provider or just not watch, a lot will choose to just not watch. And while we can bemoan those fans for not being "true" fans, the reality is these teams need to meet people where they're at, not the other way around. Adding the option for over-the-air TV was and is a great step for this! It just can't be the final step. It also doesn't solve some more stranger cases, such as fans who live in Arkansas or other non-DFW locations who were able to watch the Mavericks on Bally Sports, but are not part of the over-the-air rollout, but are also blacked-out by NBA League Pass. Reportedly, the Mavericks are aware of this. Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News said he heard the Mavericks are announcing their own streaming solution , potentially similar to what the Dallas Stars are doing with Victory Plus , next week. Multiple people around the Mavericks , even Mark Cuban himself , have confirmed the Mavericks have been working on a dedicated streaming app. This should solve most issues for those unable to watch on their current live TV providers or can't watch over-the-air. As these issues sort themselves out, I did want to call out this point from Mavericks TV broadcaster Mark Followill, who noted that Fox/Bally Sports was the TV production arm of the Mavericks, and without that, the Mavericks are now no longer relying on a TV partner, but are the TV producers themselves. That requires a lot of work and surely a lot of red tape to go through.