How to Stream 2023 MLB Games Live Without Cable- What’s Changed This Season?
How to Stream 2023 MLB Games Live Without Cable- What’s Changed This Season?
The end of March means the beginning of baseball season in the United States. The sound of full stadiums roaring to life with every strikeout, crack of the bat, and diving catches are returning to metropolitan areas everywhere across the country.
But since there are more than 160 games in the MLB season, it’s unreasonable to think that anyone will be able to attend every game in person. The good news is, there are plenty of ways to watch baseball on TV this year, whether through regional sports networks (RSNs), MLB Network, ESPN, TBS, Apple TV+, or even out-of-market contests on MLB.TV.
Our Top Live TV Streaming Picks for the 2023 Major League Baseball Season
DIRECTV STREAM
- FOX, FS1, ESPN, TBS, & MLB Network
- Bally Sports RSNs
- YES Network
- Marquee Sports Network
- Spectrum SportsNet LA
- MASN
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
- AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
- ROOT Sports Northwest
Fubo
- FOX, FS1, ESPN, & MLB Network
- NBC Sports RSNs
- SNY
- Marquee Sports Network
- AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
- ROOT Sports Northwest
Fans of the 14 MLB teams whose rights are still held by a Bally Sports RSN, you have limited options. Only DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo carry those channels, as their carriage fees are too high for Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV.
Bally Sports RSNs are currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and their long-term future is unclear. However, their parent company Diamond Sports has assured the teams its services repeatedly that games will be broadcast as scheduled in 2023. If there are any interruptions in this service, MLB will step in to distribute games itself.
DIRECTV Stream’s Choice Plan will give you access to those channels, plus MASN, YES Network, and Spectrum Sports LA. That means it’s a fantastic choice for Orioles, Yankees, and Dodgers fans, as well as supporters of teams on Bally Sports RSNs. Rockies, Cubs, and Mariners fans will also do well to look into this option, as it carries AT&T SportsNet RSNs, as well as Marquee Sports Network and ROOT Sports Northwest.
DIRECTV STREAM comes with a five-day free trial, and for a limited time, new users can save $10 off per month for their first three months.
Fubo also carries many of these channels, though it does not have AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, MASN, Spectrum Sports LA, or YES Network. Its plans start at $85.98, which includes the RSN fee that fans in 98% of markets will have to pay.
Best Ways to Stream the 2023 MLB Season If You Live in the Same Market as Your Favorite Team
There are five major streaming providers that offer Live TV Streaming. These providers allow users to stream MLB games live using iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and the web.
One of these live TV services is your best option for streaming your local team’s games all season, as well as nationally televised contests on MLB Network.
Starting at ~$40 a month, live TV streaming is a less expensive way to watch your favorite MLB team with no bulky pay TV contracts. Once the season ends, you can cancel your service and save a little money until next year’s baseball season.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Get 50% OFF | Sign Up | |||
| $86.99 | $94.99 | $82.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $82.99 | ||
| Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) | + $28 | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | |
| ESPN | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| TBS | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| MLB Network | + $15 | + $8 | ✓ | + $11 | + $11 | - | |
If you live in the same market as your favorite team, there’s a very good chance that the only way to watch will be with a live TV streaming service. If that seems a little confusing, keep scrolling and we’ll explain
Our Picks
DIRECTV STREAM
- Bally Sports RSNs
- YES Network
- Marquee Sports Network
- Spectrum SportsNet LA
- MASN
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
- AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
- ROOT Sports Northwest
Fubo
- NBC Sports RSNs
- SNY
- Marquee Sports Network
- AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
- AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
- ROOT Sports Northwest
Since YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV and Sling TV have all dropped Sinclair-owned Bally Sports RSNs (formerly Fox Sports), your options to stream them live are limited.
For the teams that are on Bally Sports RSNs, you will need to subscribe to DIRECTV STREAM Choice Plan, which now offers a 5-Day Free Trial. It now also incudes an Unlimited DVR and Unlimited at-home streams.
They are also the only service that carries, Los Angeles Dodgers (Spectrum SportsNet LA), Baltimore Orioles (MASN), and Washington Nationals (MASN) games in your local market.
If you’re a fan of the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, or Tampa Bay Rays, you have another choice: Bally Sports+. This service starts at $19.99 per month, and allows you to stream live in-market games without a cable subscription. Bally Sports+ currently holds the streaming rights to these five teams alone, however.
With other teams you have more options:
- Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM both carry NESN (Boston Red Sox), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (Pirates) AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Astros), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado Rockies), and ROOT Sports Northwest (Seattle Mariners).
- NBC Sports RSNs are carried by nearly all of the Live TV Streaming Services like Fubo, Hulu Live TV, and YouTube TV.
- Red Sox and Yankees fans in local markets can stream games via NESN 360 and the new DTC offering from YES Network, respectively.
If you live north of the border in Canada, we suggest checking out Sportsnet NOW for Toronto Blue Jays games, which costs $34.99 a month.
Since every service doesn’t carry every RSN, the handy chart below shows which teams are available on each service. Click on the team name to see which games you’ll be able to watch with each provider.
TBD
Best Ways to Stream Local Games Without a Live TV Streaming Service
However, there are some more affordable ways to stream if you don’t want to sign up for a full cable or live streaming package.
Bally Sports+ is now available, and will carry all Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, or Tampa Bay Rays games this season. The service starts at $19.99 per month, so you’ll save a bundle over cable by going this route. These are the only five teams Bally Sports currently holds the streaming rights to, however.
New York Yankees fans now have a less expensive option if they don’t want to be burdened with extra channels they won’t end up watching. The YES Network launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service for users in the New York state, Connecticut, northeastern Pennsylvania, and north and central New Jersey areas this week. This service costs $24.99 per month and will carry all Yankees games this season.
Similarly, NESN 360 offers users in the New England area the opportunity to stream all Boston Red Sox games for $29.99 per month without a live TV streaming service or cable contract. That service launched in June of 2022, and is available now to in-market customers.
Best Ways to Stream the 2023 MLB Season If You Live Away from Your Favorite Team
Out-Of-Market Telecasts
MLB.TV
If you live away from your favorite team, you can still catch nearly every game. The MLB offers its out-of-market package MLB.TV, for $149.99 to watch every team. There is a 30% discount for Students and Military Members.
Unfortunately, all games on FOX, FS1, ESPN, TBS, MLB Network, Apple TV+, and local broadcasts will be blacked out. You will need a Live TV Streaming Service for that.
You can stream on all major devices like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, PS5, Xbox, iOS, Android, and Web.
You can either subscribe on Amazon Prime Video Channels or directly on MLB.TV.
If you’re a T-Mobile — or now a Sprint — customer, for the eighth year in a row, you can get it for free until April 3.
MLB.TV has added some new features in 2023, as well. In addition to a number of user-experience and feature upgrades, the service will also include minor league games for the first time. More than 7,000 games will be included through the First Pitch app, which is included with your MLB.TV subscription.
Other new features being rolled out include the new Gameday Mode, which allows users of select connected devices to access advanced data and pitch-by-pitch analysis of the game they’re watching.
You can stream on all major devices like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, PS4, Xbox, iOS, Android, and Web.
ESPN+
ESPN+ will continue to air one or two out-of-market games daily on the streaming service.
Local-market blackout restrictions apply, so you won’t be able to watch games that are airing on linear in your region. The over-the-top service from ESPN will allow fans to stream the games on the ESPN App on all major streaming devices. Check here for the schedule of ESPN+ games for the first month of the 2023 season.
Regular Season National Telecasts
The 2023 MLB season will see national telecasts on FOX, FS1, ESPN, MLB Network, TBS, Apple TV+, and Peacock.
MLB Network
During the regular season, MLB Network will broadcast almost 50 games per month. Only a small handful of these are available nationally (two to four), so most are only available to out-of-market customers. If Bally Sports RSNs are unable to broadcast games at any point this season, however, look for MLB Network to pick up the slack.
To stream MLB Network, you will need to subscribe to a live TV service. You can stream it with a 7-Day Free Trial of Fubo. It is also available on Sling TV, DIRECTV STREAM, and YouTube TV.
Apple TV+
“Friday Night Baseball” is returning to Apple TV+ this year, though with a few changes. The most notable of these is that you will now have to pay for an Apple TV+ subscription to watch them. Last year, the games were made available free on the Apple TV app.
This will still give you access to a weekly doubleheader of games you won’t find anywhere else, however, including your local RSN.
Peacock
Peacock is the exclusive home to a Major League Baseball game of the week on Sunday mornings. Peacock first began carrying this package of games in 2022, after they left their previous home on ESPN.
To watch the games, you will need a subscription to their Peacock Premium ($4.99) plan. Games on Peacock will be nationally televised, so they won’t be available on your RSN.
ESPN
Last season, ESPN reduced the number of MLB games it offers to “Sunday Night Baseball.” The returning broadcast team is Karl Ravech (play-by-play), Eduardo Perez (analyst), and David Cone (analyst).
After the success of the ManningCast alternative broadcast of “Monday Night Football” games, ESPN will continue to host an alternate presentation of select Sunday Night Baseball games on ESPN2 with Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay called the KayRod Cast.
ESPN will also be the exclusive home of the Wild Card round as part of MLB’s expanded playoffs.
FOX and FS1
FOX and FS1 will both hold the broadcast rights to more than 50 games this season, with regionalized action on its flagship “Saturday Night Baseball” broadcast.
Joe Davis will return for play-by-play duties this year, taking over for longtime FOX stalwart Joe Buck after his departure for ESPN before the 2022 season.
During the postseason, FOX, FS1, and MLBN will air the American League Divisional and Championship Series.
TBS
TBS will begin airing 26 MLB games on Tuesday nights as part of their season-long “MLB on TBS Tuesday Night” franchise. Unlike other nationally televised games, many of these telecasts will be blacked out in your local market if they are also airing on a regional sports network.
During the postseason, TBS will air the National League Divisional and Championship Series in 2023.
Brian Anderson will be Turner’s lead baseball play-by-play man, with Bob Costas calling select games. Ron Darling and Jeff Francoeur will be the lead analysts. The studio team includes Ernie Johnson and Lauren Shehadi as hosts, with analysts Curtis Granderson, Pedro Martinez, and Jimmy Rollins.
While TBS is available on most Live TV Streaming Services, including DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV, it is not available on fuboTV.