TL;DR: If you live in Michigan, most Red Wings games air on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, which you can get through the FanDuel Sports Network app (about $20 a month), DirecTV Stream, or Fubo. If you live anywhere else in the US, the cheap answer is ESPN+ — around $12 a month — which carries the bulk of out-of-market games, with national broadcasts scattered across ESPN, TNT, and the occasional free game on ABC.

That's the short version. Now the long one, because NHL broadcast rights are genuinely confusing and I'd rather you not find that out at 7:58 on a game night.

A quick confession, and a useful way to think about this

I spend most of my year tracking where movies go after they leave theaters, and I can tell you hockey rights are messier than any studio windowing strategy I've ever charted. But the mental model transfers surprisingly well.

Think of a Red Wings season like a film release. Local games on the regional sports network are the exclusive theatrical run — if you're in the market, that's the only door in. National games on ESPN and TNT are the wide release, available to everyone. And ESPN+'s out-of-market package is the streaming window: great access, but only if you're outside the "theater's" territory. Almost every frustration people have with watching NHL hockey comes from not knowing which of those three doors applies to them. So figure out your door first.

Door one: you live in Michigan (or Red Wings territory)

The majority of the schedule — usually 65 to 70 games — airs on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, the channel formerly known as Bally Sports Detroit. You have three realistic ways to get it:

The FanDuel Sports Network app. This is the direct-to-consumer route: no cable, no bundle, just the channel. It runs about $20 a month, with a discounted annual plan if you're committed for the season (pricing shifts by market, so check the app for Detroit's current rate). If the only reason you'd ever pay for live TV is Red Wings hockey, this is your answer, full stop. The app itself is fine — not gorgeous, occasionally slow to load on smart TVs — but it does the one job.

DirecTV Stream. The Choice tier and up carries FanDuel Sports Network, along with the full cable-style lineup. Expect to pay north of $90 a month once you're past any promo pricing. It's the most complete option and the most expensive one. Worth it if your household also wants ESPN, TNT, locals, and everything else in one place.

Fubo. Fubo added FanDuel Sports Networks to its lineup, which made it a legitimate option for Red Wings fans again. Plans start around $85 a month. One caveat I'd take seriously: punch your zip code into Fubo's channel checker before you subscribe, because regional sports carriage can vary by exact location.

And the two big names that won't work: YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV do not carry FanDuel Sports Network. This is the single most common mistake in-market fans make. Both are excellent services for national games, and both will leave you staring at a dark screen for a Tuesday night game against Columbus.

Door two: you live anywhere else in the US

Congratulations, you have the easy version. ESPN+ includes the NHL's out-of-market package — over a thousand games a season — so as a Wings fan in, say, Texas or Florida, nearly the entire Detroit schedule streams there for roughly $12 a month. This is what happened to the old NHL.TV, by the way: it was folded into ESPN+ years ago, so if you've been searching for NHL.TV, stop — ESPN+ is where that subscription went.

The out-of-market games are typically the raw local broadcast feed, which honestly I prefer. You get the Detroit announcers, the Detroit graphics, the works. It's like getting the director's cut instead of the airline edit.

The one thing ESPN+ won't give you on its own: exclusive TNT games, which brings us to...

The national games, which everyone gets

Every NHL team lands a handful of national broadcasts, and the Red Wings — Original Six, big fanbase, presumably angling for relevance again — tend to get their share. Those games air on:

  • ESPN and ESPN2, available through any live TV service or ESPN's own streaming app (the full everything-ESPN version runs about $30 a month, and it includes ESPN+).
  • TNT and truTV, which simulcast on HBO Max — if you already have Max for movies (I do, obviously), check whether your plan includes the B/R Sports content before paying for anything extra.
  • ABC, a few Saturday games a season, which matters because ABC is free with an antenna.

National exclusives black out the local feed, so even FanDuel Sports Network subscribers occasionally need one of these. Annoying, yes. But it's maybe a dozen games a year.

The genuinely free options

There aren't many, and I won't pretend otherwise. A $25–$35 indoor antenna gets you the ABC national games and that's about it for TV — Red Wings games haven't aired regularly on Detroit over-the-air channels in years. Beyond that: most streaming services above offer free trials that come and go (check current terms), and radio remains completely free — the Wings' radio call streams on the team's official channels and the NHL app. Radio hockey is an underrated art form. That's not a watch option, but on a weeknight, it might be all you need.

The 2026-specific stuff (this is the part that will age)

A note on why you're probably here: the Red Wings just named Shawn Horcoff interim general manager while they search for a permanent one, and front-office drama has a funny way of making people want to actually watch the team again. To be clear, the shakeup changes nothing about where games air — broadcast deals live on their own timeline, and FanDuel Sports Network Detroit remains the local home this season. The NHL's national contracts with ESPN and TNT run through 2028, so the doors described above should stay put for a while. Prices, though, creep up almost every fall — treat every number in this guide as "approximately," and confirm on the official sites before you subscribe.

FAQ

Can I use ESPN+ for Red Wings games if I live in Michigan? Not for the local ones — in-market games are blacked out on the out-of-market package. ESPN+ still gets you the ESPN national exclusives, but for the everyday schedule you need FanDuel Sports Network through one of the routes above.

What's the single cheapest legal setup for a Michigan fan? The FanDuel Sports Network app at about $20 a month, plus an antenna for ABC games. Add Max or ESPN's app only in months when a national exclusive you care about comes up — you can subscribe and cancel monthly.

What's the cheapest setup for an out-of-state fan? ESPN+ alone covers almost everything, for around $12 a month. It's one of the better deals in sports streaming, and I say that as someone who mostly uses the app for 30 for 30 documentaries.

Did the GM change affect any broadcasts? No. Whoever ends up running hockey operations, the TV rights don't move with the front office.

That's the whole map. I'll be honest — I came to hockey the way I come to most things, through the movies (Miracle, then Goon, then somehow forty Wings games a winter). However you got here: welcome, and enjoy the season.

— Rachel

— Rachel Ortiz