There isn’t much going on in the hockey world in August, but Flyers fans got good and bad news on Wednesday afternoon — and it’s the same piece of news.
The NHL released its national broadcast schedule for the 2026-27 season on Wednesday, with the Philadelphia Flyers being one of the teams featured the most.
The Flyers will be featured on the national stage a total of 19 times, 11 of which are home games and eight on the road. This is an increase of five games from their 14 national appearances last season.
If 19 games on national television seems like a lot, that’s because it is. It’s nearly a quarter of the team’s 84 games this season, and only the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins will be on national TV more times, each with 20 appearances.
Nationally televised games include broadcasts on ABC, ESPN, TNT, as well as ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu.
The Flyers will be on TNT a total of nine times, starting with the home opener against the Penguins on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Next up is ABC and ESPN, with the Flyers appearing there six times, including two weekend meetings with the Penguins. Finally, the ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu bundle will feature the orange and black four times.
Here’s a full look at the Flyers’ national broadcast schedule for the 2026-27 season:
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME | BROADCAST |
| Wed., Sept. 30 | Pittsburgh | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Thurs., Oct. 1 | New Jersey | Prudential Center | 7:00 P.M. | ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu |
| Thurs., Oct. 15 | Detroit | Little Caesars Arena | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu |
| Wed., Oct. 21 | Buffalo | KeyBank Center | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | Washington | Capital One Arena | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Thurs., Dec. 3 | New York Islanders | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu |
| Wed., Dec. 16 | New York Rangers | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Thurs., Jan. 28 | Los Angeles | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu |
| Sun., Jan. 31 | Pittsburgh | PPG Paints Arena | 12:00 P.M. | ABC |
| Wed., Feb. 3 | Tampa Bay | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Thurs., Feb. 18 | Dallas | American Airlines Center | 9:00 P.M. | ESPN |
| Sat., Feb. 20 | New York Rangers | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 12:30 P.M. | ABC |
| Wed., Feb. 24 | Buffalo | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:00 P.M. | TNT |
| Sun., Mar. 7 | St. Louis | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 3:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Thurs., Mar. 25 | Tampa Bay | Benchmark International Arena | 6:30 P.M. | ESPN |
| Thurs., Apr. 1 | Washington | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Sat., Apr. 3 | Pittsburgh | PPG Paints Arena | 8:00 P.M. | ABC |
| Thurs., Apr. 8 | Columbus | Nationwide Arena | 7:30 P.M. | TNT |
| Sat., Apr. 10 | Washington | Xfinity Mobile Arena | 12:30 P.M. | ABC |
So, what’s the good news and what’s the bad news?
Let’s start with the positive.
The Flyers are back on the national stage
After several years of apathy in Philadelphia and not many people caring about the Flyers across the country, the Broad Street Bullies are back.
As the Flyers made their march to the playoffs last March, they played a few big games on national TV, including Porter Martone’s overtime winner against the Bruins on Easter.
They then played in some of the most-watched postseason games of the first round against the Penguins, and both Trevor Zegras and Porter Martone were among the league leaders in jersey sales.
The Flyers upsetting the Penguins in the first round announced to the hockey world that Philadelphia was a hockey city again, and although they were swept in the second round by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, they put up a good fight and have high hopes heading into this season.
With that, though, does come a downside for local Flyers fans.
Flyers fans subjected to more national broadcasts
While some of the nationally televised games may also offer local broadcasts with Jim Jackson on NBC Sports Philadelphia, that’s not always the case — the local broadcast schedule has yet to be released. That means that fans will have to deal with the average-at-best broadcasts of TNT and ESPN.
When ESPN got the rights to the NHL a few years ago, there was some hope that they would help improve the product and bring new fans to the sport. However, what was once a staple TV channel among sports fans has turned into a Pat McAfee fest with nonstop nonsense broadcast at all hours of the day.
Now, ESPN is arguably the worst NHL broadcast experience, with some fans and viewers opting to mute the game entirely rather than having to listen to cringy catchphrases, off-subject chatter, and horrid play-by-play — if they even comment on the game happening in front of them.
TNT has done a better job, to be fair, and their in-studio crew is a lot better than ESPN’s. That’s not a high bar, though, and it’s certainly a much less enjoyable exprience than watching Jim Jackson and Brian Boucher on the home feed.
National broadcasts also usually result in later start times, with 10 of the Flyers’ 84 games seeing start time changes due to the updated schedule. And even if a 7:00 p.m. start is only pushed back to 7:30 p.m., we all know that a 7:30 puck drop usually means closer to 8:00.
It’s a give and take, and hopefully, we’ll see even more of the Flyers on national broadcasts in the coming years with all of the latter rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN or TNT.
