If you watched TV while working Tuesday and wondered why you were watching an NBA game, NBC is hoping it won’t seem so surprising in the future.
And if someone told you there was an NBA game on today, but your local NBC affiliate was showing something else, you’re not alone.
The first game of the 2026-27 NBA regular season kicked off Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET, with the Detroit Pistons hosting the Boston Celtics. NBC hopes to make the noon start an annual addition to the league’s traditional opening night schedule.
They pulled out all the stops, with “College Game Day“, style activations”, a performance of “Roundball Rock” by a marching band, and numerous activities around Little Caesars Arena and Detroit.
The goal is to turn the return of the NBA season into an all-day experience and cement a new tradition as part of NBC’s return to broadcasting NBA games.
“We kind of challenged the NBA,” Justin Byczek, executive vice president of NBC Sports, told USA TODAY Sports. “We think Opening Day should be expanded, and we would like to be the network that supports it, and over the next decade try to understand where Opening Day can lead.”
Traditionally, the NBA’s opening day is a two-game affair, and subsequent matchups reflect that, with the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks raising their banner against LeBron James and the revamped Philadelphia 76ers, followed by a rematch of the Western Conference Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both of these games are also on NBC and Peacock.
NBC appears to be banking on an afternoon tilt between the Pistons and Celtics, building excitement and audiences in this Knicks-Sixers broadcast. However, they ran into a problem: affiliates were reluctant to broadcast non-traditional programming.
Many NBC viewers took to social media to say that even though their TV guides said they should watch Pistons-Celtics, their local affiliate was showing something else.
It appears that virtually all of Gray’s affiliates on NBC (up to 64 stations) are either preempting Celtics-Pistons and moving it to a subchannel or preempting it altogether. Nashville, Columbia, Omaha NE, Wilmington, Montgomery among some affected markets
— Joe Wright (@Sctvman) October 20, 2026
@YouTubeTV why is the Celtics/Pistons game not playing on my TV???? Why am I looking at Judge Judy’s brother????
— Leonard Miller enthusiast (@TheBigWrigley) October 20, 2026
My NBC affiliate chooses to air an infomercial for old people rather than Celtics-Pistons
– boosain bolt thrower 👻 (@thiccofferman.bsky.social) October 20, 2026 at 12:06 p.m.
Two NBC affiliates, WAVY 10 in Norfolk and WMTV 15 in Madison, will not broadcast Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons, due to scheduling commitments. They will be on WVBT 43.2, the CW/Madison CW 15.2/Peacock/NBC Sports app from Hampton Road.
— Miguel L. Sanchez (@SanchezML94) October 20, 2026
MUST BE NICE…because it’s not on NBC.
– Bets on Music City (@MusicCityBets) October 20, 2026
The NBC affiliate (WMC) in Memphis has moved ahead of Celtics/Pistons and broadcasts regular programming.
The game was relegated to their sports-centric digital subchannel.
@TVSportsUpdates
#NBATipOff #DifferentHere #Detroitbasketball https://t.co/tSR8VbzIXA
— Cereal Fanatic (@CerealFanatic_) October 20, 2026
If you live in an area where the NBC affiliate doesn’t broadcast the game, you can watch it on Peacock. Many affiliates have also put the game on a different channel which you will need to track down. But that’s not the point. It’s hard to start a new tradition by giving people a national broadcast of the NBA when a large portion of your audience can’t even access it.
UPDATE: “Broadcast stations serving 99% of U.S. households carried the game either on NBC or another local station. It was also available on Peacock,” an NBC Sports spokesperson said in a statement to Awful Announcing.
Gn sports
