Kings To Be Featured 14 Times on National Broadcasts + Start Time Changes

The LA Kings will be featured on 14 national broadcasts this season, split between ESPN, TNT and ESPN+ / Hulu streams.

It all starts with the season-opening doubleheader, as the Kings will be featured both on ESPN’s first night of games as well as TNT’s first night of games.

The @LAKings will be featured on the season-opening broadcast slates for both @espn & @NHL_On_TNT.

Home Opener on 10/7 vs. COL on ESPN + Road Opener on 10/8 @ VGK on TNT.

Looks like 1⃣4⃣ national broadcast dates this season in total, including streams.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) August 27, 2025

The Kings home opener versus Colorado will be a part of a season-opening tripleheader on ESPN. The next night, as the Kings travel to Vegas, the game versus the Golden Knights will be a part of TNT’s season-opening doubleheader, with the Kings featured on the national call once again.

Assuming no changes – and there definitely could be some changes – that would leave 68 games to be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network. This was a key date in getting the local schedule worked out, which will also include a formal announcement of broadcast talent. More to come on that front and I hope to have some updates to share re: local broadcast information before a formal announcement.

Broken down by network, here are the 14 games that will be featured on a national broadcast this season.

TNT
October 8 – Kings @ Golden Knights
December 10 – Kings @ Kraken
January 14 – Kings vs. Golden Knights
February 25 – Kings vs. Golden Knights
April 1 – Kings vs. Blues

Someone come up with a fun abbreviation for how TNT just stands for Kings vs. Golden Knights. Thrilling Nevada Television? One of you can do better.

The Kings will play five games this season on the NHL on TNT platform. Three of the five games will be games versus Vegas. There’s also a game on April 1 against St. Louis, which might actually be an April Fools Joke and the Kings are actually playing against Vegas that night. Then there’s a game on December 10 against Seattle, which might’ve been said out loud to be a game against a recent expansion team that was misreported as a game versus Seattle and is actually a game versus Vegas. So, the Kings are likely playing against Vegas five times on TNT.

ESPN
October 7 – Kings vs. Avalanche
October 28 – Kings @ Sharks
February 26 – Kings vs. Oilers
March 5 – Kings vs. Islanders
April 13 – Kings @ Kraken

Starts with Opening Night versus Colorado and also includes three games against fellow Pacific Division opposition. A Kings/Islanders game on March 5? That’s got to be one of the weirdest national broadcast games I’ve ever seen in working here. Matthew Schaefer’s return to Los Angeles to battle against the decentralized draft format is just a storyline that cannot be ignored.

The home opener makes a ton of sense and that one was already revealed prior to the full schedule today. ESPN seems to love Kings/Sharks and Kings/Oilers, so no surprises there. The late-season game versus Seattle could have playoff implications, potentially, so there’s that. The Kings/Islanders game in March is a part of a doubleheader on ESPN and perhaps the Kings being at home was the only late start that made sense? Either way, it’s a little different, but five games on the worldwide leader.

ESPN+ / Hulu
October 23 – Kings @ Stars
November 6 – Kings vs. Panthers
November 20 – Kings @ Sharks
December 4 – Kings vs. Blackhawks

In terms of the stream-only games, the Kings will be featured four times this season on the ESPN+ / Hulu broadcast platform. These games are accessible with an ESPN+ membership and unless any of these games also get picked up locally, which would likely only happen if 14 is over the maximum number of games allowed to be carried nationally, they would remain accessible only via a stream. Yes, I know you’ll complain and no there isn’t anything I can do to change it and I am sorry for that. ESPN+ is an amazing;y easy way to watch the Kings if you don’t live locally but I understand that it makes these couple games a little more challenging.

The defending champs are included in these four games and Kings/Panthers has actually been a very fun regular-season tilt over the last few seasons. Another Kings/Sharks game, a Chicago game…..something, something 2014…..always seems to land on a national broadcast somewhere and an early-season trip to Dallas round out the slate for the regular season.

Additionally, the NHL announced that the start times of these seven games have changed as follows –

October 23 – Los Angeles @ Dallas – start time has changed from 5:00 p.m. PT to 6:00 p.m. PT
November 6 – Florida @ Los Angeles – start time has changed from 7:30 p.m. PT to 7:00 p.m. PT
December 4 – Chicago @ Los Angeles – start time has changed from 7:30 p.m. PT to 7:00 p.m. PT
January 1 – Tampa Bay @ Los Angeles – start time has changed from 7:30 p.m. PT to 4:00 p.m. PT
January 12 – Dallas @ Los Angeles – start time has changed from 7:30 p.m. PT to 7:00 p.m. PT
January 20 – NY Rangers @ Los Angeles – start time has changed from 7:30 p.m. PT to 7:00 p.m. PT
April 13 – Los Angeles @ Seattle – start time has changed from 7:00 p.m. PT to 6:30 p.m. PT

So, there’s your national games.

Coming next, local broadcast details. One interesting note in the release here is that the other 68 games will all be either broadcast or streamed via FanDuel Sports Network and the games that will be on KCAL-TV will be simulcast games, not exclusives. So, that makes it seem as if those games will be available on both networks, which could give fans additional opportunities to watch.

Sharing the following from the team regarding the local broadcast schedule –

All Kings regular season games not exclusively on a national platform will be televised and streamed on FanDuel Sports Network. Select local games will also be simulcast on KCAL-TV.

FanDuel Sports Network is widely available through cable, satellite and virtual streaming providers throughout the Kings’ local TV territory, which includes Southern California and Hawaii. Options include Spectrum, Cox, DIRECTV, U-Verse and Fubo. For a list of TV providers in your zip code that carry FanDuel Sports Network, visit GetMyHomeTeams.com.

Local fans can also stream Kings games, pregame/postgame coverage, and other programming on the FanDuel Sports Network app and at FanDuelSportsNetwork.com by authenticating with their pay-TV credentials or subscribing directly. Monthly and annual subscriptions are available, and a full Season Pass offer will launch closer to the season.

Prime Video customers can also sign up for FanDuel Sports Network as an add-on subscription. To get started, open the Prime Video app or visit amazon.com/channels and search for FanDuel Sports Network.