{"id":599674,"date":"2026-04-22T13:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/599674\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T13:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:54:08","slug":"lynx-strike-local-streaming-deal-with-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/599674\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynx strike local streaming deal with Victory+"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lynx have become the first pro basketball team to take its local game broadcasts to Victory+, the free streaming, ad-supported platform that remains in the hunt for multiple NBA teams next season<\/a> and is pursuing more WNBA franchises this spring, as well.<\/p>\n

Victory+ will stream all 26 of the Lynx\u2019s non-exclusive nationally televised games, plus three preseason contests — starting with Saturday\u2019s matchup with the Mystics. Victory+ founder and CEO Neil Gruninger told SBJ the deal does not contain a minimum guarantee and that the two sides will monetize through an advertising revenue share agreement. Lynx\/Wolves CEO Matt Caldwell said he also expects Victory+ to simulcast select games on an undisclosed linear channel in Minneapolis — partly to ease the fanbase into a streaming-only model.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, they\u2019re very hungry,\u201d Caldwell said of Victory+. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to grow in sports. They have great technology, easy access. It\u2019s kind of like the old school OTA model meeting the new digital streaming model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caldwell, as former CEO of the NHL\u2019s Panthers, became aware of Victory+ when the platform struck its inaugural sports deal in September 2024 with the Stars<\/a>, and then the Ducks<\/a>. But no NBA or WNBA team had followed those teams into the digital model until now. <\/p>\n

\u201cListen, you\u2019ve got to go where the fans are, and especially this generation is very accustomed and expecting streaming,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cWe understand that, traditionally, sports has been more of a linear television product, so we\u2019re very empathetic to that. … But, ultimately, it\u2019s difficult to have an option that is both free on linear and both free on streaming. You kind of have to choose one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry sources said Victory+ is in talks with at least three NBA teams, including the T\u2019Wolves. Gruninger would not comment, other than to say he has been in touch with other undisclosed WNBA teams ahead of this 2026 season. Victory+ has already made significant inroads into women\u2019s sports with a national NWSL partnership that includes 25 exclusive Sunday night broadcasts. The platform also has five local NWSL deals and streams LOVB volleyball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s only going to continue to evolve [into women\u2019s basketball] as more WNBA teams see not only the benefits of going free and what it does for their own ticket sales, merch sales fandom within the actual stadium itself,\u201d Gruninger said. <\/p>\n

As part of the deal, Victory+ will also offer a 24\/7 Lynx hub that includes recaps, highlights, features and creator-led content. The Lynx\u2019s broadcast team has yet to be announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lynx have become the first pro basketball team to take its local game broadcasts to Victory+, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[402,99,7382,434,1765],"class_list":["post-599674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-sports","tag-streaming","tag-wnba","tag-womens-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}