How to watch the Lightning for the 2025-26 season: TV channel, streaming info and more

The Lightning kick off the 2025-26 regular season Thursday night with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators at Benchmark International Arena.

If you plan on catching the opener from home, though, we’re here to give you the rundown on every possible way to watch the Bolts throughout the regular season.

This season, the Lightning have teamed up with Scripps Sports to make Bolts broadcasts available to everyone across the Bay Area and beyond, making it more accessible than ever. Fans will have a number of ways to watch, including free over-the-air (with an HD antenna) as well as on cable and satellite. Or a digital streaming subscription on the Tampa Bay Lightning app. Here’s a further breakdown of how the local market can tune into Bolts games going forward.

Over-the-Air

Scripps’ The Spot: WXTP-TV Channel 66.1

Gone are the days of extending our rusted, stainless-steel rods from our television sets and pointing them to the heavens—navigating the perfect placement for the clearest picture.

Now, it’s a lot easier. And for the same price as a food delivery, you can purchase a sleek, HD TV antenna that will deliver picture-perfect Bolts hockey on Scripps’ The Spot: WXTP-TV Channel 66.1 in Tampa Bay (the channel varies by market).

There’s plenty of HD antennas out there at a variety of price points, but here’s a few good options to get started:

Fronguld HD TV Antenna for Smart TV, $26

Channel Master Flatenna 35/Duo, $29

Gesobyte Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna, $34

Mohu Leaf Indoor HD TV Antenna, $40

Cusvuevi Upgraded TV Antenna for Smart TV, $48

Cable

Scripps’ The Spot: Tampa Bay 66

If you’re a classic cable watcher, the Bolts will still be there for every game broadcasted in the local market. Scripps, which owns Tampa Bay 28, the local ABC TV affiliate serving the bay area tv market, has launched The Spot – Tampa Bay 66 as the main broadcast home of the Lightning for Tampa Bay.

Here’s the channel breakdown for The Spot for each provider in the Tampa Bay area. If you're outside the Tampa Bay market, in Orlando or Gainesville per say, you can scroll down to the bottom of this article for the full market guide.

DirectTV: 66
DirectTV Stream: 66
Charter/Spectrum: 17
Frontier: 23
Summit Broadband: 9
Advanced Cable (Blue Stream): 5

Streaming

The Tampa Bay Lightning App

For the streamers, fans can live-stream games through the Tampa Bay Lightning app throughout the Bolts’ broadcast territory for $66/season. That’s less than a dollar a game if you’re counting. You can subscribe on your computer at TampaBayLightning.com/streamnow or mobile app for ease of sign-up, but the app can also be downloaded right on your Smart TV. Once downloaded, you can click on it just like Netflix, Hulu or any other app you might watch, and the game will be right in there—along with a slew of other Lightning-forward features.

The Lightning App is available on:

IOS
Android
Fire TV
Google Play Store
Apple TV
Roku

Full Market Watch Guide

Lightning fans can also watch and stream the Bolts beyond Tampa Bay. Below you can find the broadcast and stream information for every local market in Florida, including Orlando, Gainesville, Tallahassee and more.