The Tampa Bay Lightning will open the 2026-27 regular season against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Fans can follow the ice hockey team through local over-the-air and cable broadcasts, streaming on the Tampa Bay Lightning app, and 14 nationally distributed games.
For the second consecutive season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have partnered with Scripps Sports to make local broadcasts available across the Tampa Bay market and beyond. The viewing information was announced Sept. 28, 2026, ahead of the regular-season opener.
How to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning locally
The Tampa Bay Lightning local broadcast home is Scripps’ The Spot. In Tampa Bay, fans can watch over the air on WXTP-TV Channel 66.1 with an HD antenna, although the channel can vary by market.
Cable viewers can find The Spot on Tampa Bay Channel 66. The listed provider channels are DirecTV 66, DirecTV Stream 66, Charter/Spectrum 17, Frontier 23, Summit Broadband 9 and Advanced Cable (Blue Stream) 5.
Streaming option
Fans throughout the Tampa Bay Lightning broadcast territory can stream games through the Tampa Bay Lightning app for $66 per season. Subscriptions are available through TampaBayLightning.com/streamnow or the mobile app.
The app is available on iOS, Android, Fire TV, Google Play Store, Apple TV and Roku. It gives viewers a streaming option in addition to the local over-the-air and cable broadcasts.
Nationally broadcast Tampa Bay Lightning games
Fourteen Tampa Bay Lightning games are scheduled for national broadcast during the 2026-27 regular season. The schedule includes games on TNT, ESPN, ABC and ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu.
- Tuesday, Oct. 20: at Vegas, ESPN, 10:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: at Buffalo, TNT, 7 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: vs. Washington, ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu, 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: vs. Edmonton, ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu, 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: vs. Carolina, TNT, 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 2: at Montreal, TNT, 7:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, Dec. 22: vs. St. Louis, TNT, 7 p.m.
- Monday, Jan. 18: at Boston, TNT, 1:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 3: at Philadelphia, TNT, 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 16: vs. Florida, ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu, 7 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 23: vs. Florida, TNT, 7 p.m.
- Thursday, March 25: vs. Philadelphia, ESPN, 6:30 p.m.
- Saturday, April 3: at Boston, ABC, 3 p.m.
- Saturday, April 10: vs. Boston, ABC, 8 p.m.
FSB Take
The Tampa Bay Lightning enter the 2026-27 season with local television coverage on The Spot, streaming access through the team app and 14 games scheduled for national broadcast. Tampa Bay viewers should check their provider for The Spot listing, with WXTP-TV Channel 66.1 serving as the local over-the-air channel. The $66 seasonal app subscription provides another option for fans within the team’s broadcast territory.
Source: Original report