Three Wisconsin stations owned by Gray Television will broadcast 10 Milwaukee Bucks games this season.
The deal was made between Gray, the Bucks, Diamond Sports, which televises the team’s games on cable, and Weigel Broadcasting’s WMLW, which will air the games in Milwaukee.
In addition to the three Gray markets — WBAY Green Bay, WYOW-WSAW Wausau and WEAU-WECX in Eau Claire — the package of 10 Bucks games will be on the air on Morgan Murphy’s WISC Madison and Tegna’s WQAD Moline, Illinois, in the Quad Cities market that covers Illinois and Iowa.
More teams and leagues are moving games back to free over-the-air broadcasts as cord-cutting erodes subscribers and viewers on cable regional sports networks.
“We are thrilled to offer the Bucks fans in Green Bay, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Wausau and nearby areas the chance to watch these ten games for free,“ Gray TV senior managing VP Matt Moran said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Gray stations WBAY/WBAY 365 in Green Bay, WYOW/WSAW in Wausau and WEAU/WECX in Eau Claire-La Crosse to provide complete access to these Bucks games, regardless of how you watch TV.”
The first Bucks telecast in the package is February 23 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We’re thrilled to reach Bucks fans statewide on broadcast television stations,” said Peter Feigin, president of the Bucks and Fiserv Forum. “Over-the-air is an easy and affordable way for Bucks fans to watch our games and we’re excited to work with Weigel to make them widely available in Wisconsin.”
