The Phoenix Suns are moving forward with putting their games on free broadcast television after their regional sports network partner declined to match the offer.

The Suns and Mercury intend to show games on several over-the-air stations in Arizona owned by Gray Television.

They expect the move to triple their reach compared to cable. There are also plans to launch a direct-to-consumer option to stream games over the internet.

"I am excited to be able to deliver to our Suns and Mercury fans this industry-shifting partnership with Gray Television," Suns owner Mat Ishbia said in a statement. "We've had an incredible offseason, making a lot of exciting moves to build the championship caliber Suns team our fans want. Now, this deal gives more than 2.8 million homes across Arizona access to Suns and Mercury games for free."