Reacting to Orlando Magic's National TV Schedule

The 2026-27 NBA schedule is out, and that means that the Orlando Magic now know who they will be playing and when across the 82-game slate.  We already received a glimpse of who the Magic will be facing when the group-play schedule for the Emirates NBA Cup was released on Wednesday. Now, key matchups throughout the season can be identified, as well as home stands, road trips, etc. One such area of interest revealed by Orlando’s schedule is the presence it will have on national television. During the regular season, the Magic are currently scheduled for eight nationally televised games. On the Full Court Magic with my colleague Andrew Cherico, I provided my reaction to this allocation of national TV exposure. "I think that this team still has a lot to prove, and generally, the more that you prove yourself, the better off you'll be in the eyes of the schedule makers and how your national TV coverage falls into play. Yeah, you bring up eight games. From what I can see here, the first nationally televised game is not until Monday, Nov. 16 at Boston. That'll be televised on Peacock, and then you go until December, when they will play at home against Philadelphia. That's part of a home-and-away series against Philadelphia. They start there on the 12th of December before coming home, and the game at home will be on Peacock as well, and then there's another drought, and then they get some more, and yeah, I'm with you. You know, I think that it's not too bad of a slate. I think that this is decent coverage for this team. Could they have gotten more in an 82-game season? Yes, but again, it's about proving themselves, because one thing that the Magic have going up against them is for all intents and purposes, they are a small-market team, right?  Like, this isn't a Los Angeles, a New York, a Boston. Like, they fall into that range more of like, you know, Charlotte, you know, Cleveland, and unfortunately, I'm sure, you know, we check the Heat schedule, they're gonna have a lot more,especially after the acquisition of Giannis.  And so, you know, I think that this is just kind of, they gotta take what they're being given, you know, and prove themselves, and if the Magic have a strong year and we really see the ascension of their stars, I imagine that the 27-28 season, you know, could produce more national coverage for them. But for now, I mean, this is where we're at, so we'll see how they do, and we'll see if they win on those stages and if they can show that they're worthy of more games."