Today, September 26, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced two new options for local and in-market fans to watch the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche after years of television network disputes blocked most local fans from watching their championship-contending teams.
KSE — the ownership group that operates Stan Kroenke's sports empire in Colorado, including the Avalanche, Nuggets, Colorado Rapids and Colorado Mammoth — announced that twenty Avs and Nuggets games apiece will be available for free over the air, and any game not aired exclusively on a national channel will be available on a new streaming app, Altitude+.
“When I joined KSE last March, I said the most important thing we can do with Altitude Sports is give it a fresh perspective so that our fans can see our amazing teams and the generational players we are fortunate to have here in Denver,” Kevin Demoff, KSE president of team and media operations said in an announcement. “I want to thank all of our distribution partners for working with us to come up with a creative solution to get Altitude Sports to our fans.”
A disagreement between Comcast and DISH Network and Altitude, commonly called the Comcast-Altitude dispute, had fans often resorting to illegal streaming to watch the Nuggets and Avs, as other options were slim or pricey. Altitude and those TV networks have still not reached an agreement, but now fans have more options besides DirecTV, the only major cable provider in Colorado carrying Altitude.
TEGNA, which operates 9NEWS and KTVD Channel 20 in Denver, now has a broadcast agreement with KSE to air select Nuggets and Avalanche games. KTVD will broadcast forty games between the two teams this season, with ten games simulcast on 9NEWS.
Games aired on TEGNA channels will still be produced by Altitude Sports and have Altitude’s popular television personalities helming each broadcast. Chris Marlowe, Scott Hastings, Vic Lombardi, Christopher Dempsey, Katy Winge and Bill Hanzlik will still be on airways for Nuggets games, with Marc Moser, Mark Rycroft, Kyle Keefe, John-Michael Liles, John Mitchell and Yan Stastny covering the Avalanche.
According to KSE, the broadcast agreement with TEGNA will enable nearly 3.5 million people in the Denver metro area to access games over the air. The first Nuggets game on KTVD will air October 29 against the Brooklyn Nets. The first Avs game will be October 24 against the brand-new Utah Hockey Club.
Fans have hoped KSE would begin to offer games over the air since last August, when the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury announced that every one of both teams’ games would be available for free to anyone who has a TV antenna (games were also streamed online for free for the Mercury and for a subscription fee for the Suns). The Utah Jazz soon followed suit.
However, the regional sports networks that previously carried Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz games — AT&T SportsNet and Bally Sports — shut down over financial trouble before their owners moved their games to antenna broadcast. Denver fans didn’t want that, either. Now they’ll get the best of both worlds.
Of course, there are more than twenty games in the NHL and NBA seasons, so not every game is available for free. Both the Nuggets and Avs will have a certain number of games broadcast on national TV as part of television packages across many cable providers, as well. Starting in October, any game not exclusive to a national network will be available on a new platform called Altitude+.
Altitude+ will cost $19.95 per month and won’t black out viewers in Altitude’s broadcast territory, which spans Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and parts of Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Fans will also have access to pre- and post-game coverage as well as Altitude Sports specials, and a few broadcasts of college games featuring Colorado State, the University of Denver and the Air Force Academy.
Those who do have a cable provider that airs Altitude Sports, like DIRECTV, Fubo or Spectrum TV, will be able to access Altitude+ for free by signing in with their TV provider.
“I’m excited for those fans that haven’t been able to watch games on Altitude on a regular basis — they’re in for a show,” Demoff said.
Altitude+ will be available for download on iOS and Android devices immediately, with KSE planning to add smart TV apps soon.
Avalanche and Nuggets Games Broadcast for Free in 2024-25
Denver NuggetsOctober 29, 2024 Nuggets @ Brooklyn Nets
November 19, 2024 Nuggets @ Memphis Grizzlies
November 27, 2024 Nuggets @ Utah Jazz
December 5, 2024 Nuggets @ Cleveland Cavaliers
December 27, 2024 Nuggets vs Cleveland Cavaliers
January 3, 2025 Nuggets vs San Antonio Spurs
January 10, 2025 Nuggets vs Brooklyn Nets
January 17, 2025 Nuggets @ Miami Heat
January 23, 2025 Nuggets vs Sacramento Kings
January 27, 2025 Nuggets @ Chicago Bulls
February 3, 2025 Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans
February 12, 2025 Nuggets vs Portland Trailblazers
February 20, 2025 Nuggets vs Charlotte Hornets
February 24, 2025 Nuggets @ Indiana Pacers
March 5, 2025 Nuggets vs Sacramento Kings
March 10, 2025 Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder
March 23, 2025 Nuggets @ Houston Rockets
March 24, 2025 Nuggets vs Chicago Bulls
April 6, 2025 Nuggets vs Indiana Pacers
April 11, 2025 Nuggets vs Memphis Grizzlies
Colorado Avalanche
October 24, 2024 Avs @ Utah Hockey Club
November 7, 2024 Avs @ Winnipeg Jets
November 15, 2024 Avs vs Washington Capitals
November 21, 2024 Avs @ Washington Capitals
December 3, 2024 Avs @ Buffalo Sabres
December 12, 2024 Avs vs Utah Hockey Club
December 20, 2024 Avs @ Anaheim Ducks
January 2, 2025 Avs vs Buffalo Sabres
January 11, 2025 Avs @ Winnipeg Jets
January 14, 2025 Avs vs NY Rangers
January 22, 2025 Avs vs Winnipeg Jets
February 7, 2025 Avs @ Edmonton Oilers
February 23, 2025 Avs @ St. Louis Blues
February 26, 2025 Avs vs. New Jersey Devils
March 8, 2025 Avs vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
March 14, 2025 Avs @ Calgary Flames
March 22, 2025 Avs @ Montreal Canadiens
March 25, 2025 Avs vs Detroit Red Wings
March 31, 2025 Avs vs Calgary Flames
April 10, 2025 Avs vs Vancouver Canucks
