Chicago Bulls’ lack of 2025-26 national TV games is shameful, insider says

The Chicago Bulls don’t get out much, at least as it pertains to playing anywhere that’s not the Chicago Sports Network. This season, the Bulls will have just three nationally televised basketball games. Only the Washington Wizards have fewer than that.

That’s really disappointing to Jasmyn Wimbish of CBS Sports, although she admits it’s not unwarranted or surprising. “It is a shame that the team in the third-largest media market in the country cannot muster more national attention than this,” she wrote. Chicago has a ton of media attention, but the Bulls don’t deserve much of it.

Sadly, that’s just how the Bulls are now. It’s how they’ve been for several years. They’re 164-164 over the last four years. Nothing about that demands more national TV games. “Satisfied with mediocrity and in no rush to get out of that spot,” Wimbish added. “Perhaps Coby White and Matas Buzelis can inject some life back into this once storied franchise, but until then, it’s only a trio of national games for Chicago.”

She mentioned White and Buzelis, but it’s hard to see any of them evolving into must-see TV right now. Buzelis is more likely since he’s younger and has more developing to do. White is what he is, and he’s not someone who demands to be seen by the wider NBA audience.

Noa Essengue, similarly to Buzelis, has that upside and can develop, but he’s not exactly a player who projects as a franchise-altering player that would make Chicago a good team again and force them back on TV. This has been a problem with team-building, but it’s now seeping into the lack of games on ESPN, NBA, and the like.