The Portland Trail Blazers are just the latest pro sports franchise to distribute local games via a combination of over-the-air affiliates and direct-to-subscriber streaming. Plus: the Pac-12 continues to beef up its membership; Adnan Virk has a prominent new gig north of the border; CBS has acquired more Big 12 men’s basketball games.
Blazers latest team to go with OTA/streaming combo
Portland Trail Blazers games will be distributed locally through over-the-air affiliates owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and a new team-owned direct-to-subscriber streaming service, it was announced Monday, marking the team just the latest to move from cable RSNs to a combination of over-the-air and streaming.
Branded the “Rip City Television Network,” the over-the-air component will be available on Sinclair-owned KATU- and KUNP- in Portland , KUNS- in Seattle, and several other local affiliates in the Pacific Northwest.
The streaming service, named “BlazerVision,” will be available through the NBA app and NBA.com for $20/month or $120 per season.
Blazers games previously aired on ROOT Sports.
Pac-12 poaches Utah State from MWC as realignment continues
Utah State has agreed to join the Pac-12 starting in the 2026-27 season, according to multiple reports Monday, making it the fifth Mountain West school to announce its intention to depart for the conference. Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State announced their intentions last week.
The addition of Utah State brings the total number of Pac-12 schools to seven, one shy of the eight required for the conference to meet the minimum NCAA FBS standards. The Pac-12 is currently comprised of only two teams, but allowed to compete at the FBS level under a two-year grace period.
The Mountain West, which itself will be down to seven teams with the aforementioned departures, is trying to prevent additional defections. Air Force and San Jose State are said to have committed to stay, while UNLV is believed to be a “top target” of the Pac-12.
The Pac-12 was also seeking schools from the American Athletic Conference, but Memphis, Tulane, South Florida and UTSA announced Monday that they are committing to their current league. Gonzaga was initially reported to be joining the Pac-12 as a basketball-only member, but that was disputed by other reporting.
Ex-ESPN anchor Virk to host Amazon’s Canadian NHL package
Former ESPN anchor Adnan Virk has been named one of the studio hosts for the new Amazon Prime “Monday Night Hockey” NHL package in Canada, it was announced Tuesday. Virk will be joined on-site from games by co-host Andi Petrillo and analyst Blake Bolden, with John Forslund, Jody Shelley, Thomas Hickey and Shane Hnidy handling the game telecasts.
Virk was a prominent ESPN anchor for years until his abrupt firing for leaking information about ESPN’s MLB coverage plans to a reporter. He has since worked for MLB Network and DAZN and had a brief stint as a WWE play-by-play voice.
CBS scores more Big 12 games under sublicensing deal with ESPN
CBS Sports has acquired an additional 20 Big 12 men’s basketball games per year under a sublicensing agreement with ESPN that will run through the 2026-27 season, it was announced Monday. All 20 games will air on the CBS Sports Network, bringing the total number of Big 12 games on the CBS networks to at least 26 (the CBS broadcast network already sublicensed a minimum of six games per year).
