MLB to take over Washington Nationals broadasts in 2026
MLB to take over Washington Nationals broadasts in 2026
The Nationals had previously seen their games broadcast on the MASN regional sports channel.
Yet another Major League Baseball team is leaving its regional sports network (RSN) in favor of a new future. The Washington Nationals will depart from their former RSN home MASN in 2026, when the team’s games will be broadcast and distributed by MLB itself.
Key Details:
- See ya: The Nationals will no longer air local games on MASN.
- Come with us: MLB will distribute games from the Nationals and several other teams this year.
- More on the way?: As many as nine additional teams could need a new broadcast partner before the season starts.
At the beginning of 2025, the Nationals settled a long-running legal battle with the Baltimore Orioles and MASN, allowing the club to leave the RSN following the 2025 season. Ever since the season’s end, Front Office Sports reports, the Nationals have been evaluating their options regarding their broadcasts for 2026.
Ultimately, the team decided to have MLB distribute its games, as it is currently doing for six other clubs: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Mariners. Fans will be able to watch the Nationals on a special, in-market version of the MLB.TV streaming service, and MLB will approach cablers in the team’s TV footprint to distribute the team to traditional pay-TV customers as well.
Several additional teams could fall under MLB’s broadcasting umbrella before the start of the year, as well. Nine other teams are currently without a broadcast partner for 2026, as last week they made the collective decisions to cancel contracts with their former partner Main Street Sports Group, which owns FanDuel Sports Network RSNs. If those teams don’t get satisfaction that any deals to return to FanDuel SN channels would be fully financed before the end of January, they will make their split with Main Street permanent.
Complicating matters still further for the league is the fact that in November, MLB agreed to separate deals with ESPN to sell MLB.TV to the Worldwide Leader in Sports, as well as to license in-market streams from the clubs MLB is distributing to ESPN. But last week, reports emerged that ESPN likely wouldn't get those in-market streaming rights until 2027. Considering how unsettled the question of how many teams will need MLB to distribute their games in 2026 is, it makes sense that ESPN’s takeover of those rights would have to wait a year.
What we do know for certain is that the Washington Nationals will be distributed by MLB in 2026, along with at least six other teams. MLB hasn’t indicated the price to stream in-market games for the 2026 season yet, but in 2025, it cost $20 per month for fans in applicable markets.
MLB.TV
MLB.TV is the official streaming service of Major League Baseball. You can see every out-of-market game live or on-demand and choose home or away TV and radio feeds. The app allows fans to watch up to four games simultaneously on the same screen through its Multi-view feature. MLB.TV can be added to your Sling TV or Prime Video subscription.