Which Regional Sports Networks Offer MLB Games in 2024?
Opening Day is nearly here, and that means it’s time to once again locate your regional sports network to follow each and every one of your favorite squad’s games.
The 2024 MLB season could be the last without an in-market streaming platform that carries games from multiple teams. League commissioner Rob Manfred wants to bring such a service to market by 2025, but until then fans will have to navigate the patchwork of regional sports networks (RSNs) that carry MLB games not broadcast on a national channel like ESPN, Fox or TBS. The majority of a given team’s regular season games are played on RSNs every year, and it can be confusing to know which network carries which team. That’s why The Streamable’s experts are here, to help cut down on the unknowns and help you find your favorite MLB team quickly and easily.
- MLB teams play on a wide range of RSNs, from independently-owned networks to Bally Sports channels and everything in between.
- Some MLB teams offer in-market streaming options, whereas others only distribute their games on linear TV.
- DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo are the best services for watching RSNs, except for the three teams that will only be offered through special plans of MLB.TV.
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Which MLB Games Will Appear on RSNs This Year?
As with every MLB season, RSNs will be the primary broadcast partners of most teams in the league. National sports channels like ESPN, Fox, and TBS distribute some games, as does Apple TV+, which carries a weekly doubleheader of MLB games each Friday night of the summer. Every game not appearing on national channels and streaming services appears on an RSN.
However, thanks to the tumult in sports broadcasting over the past year, there are three teams that will operate differently than the rest of the league in 2024. The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres were both available on Bally Sports channels to start the 2023 season, but the teams left those channels during the course of the year as the parent company of Bally Sports networks Diamond Sports Group worked through bankruptcy proceedings. In addition, the Colorado Rockies used to air on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, but that channel shut down last year when its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery decided to exit the RSN business. The Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies are all available to stream to local fans with special, in-market plans for MLB.TV, which usually only carries out-of-market games.
Which RSNs Carry Each MLB Team in 2024?
Which Live TV Streaming Services Are the Best for Watching Baseball on RSNs?
DIRECTV STREAM is The Streamable’s top choice for watching MLB games this season. Its Choice plan ($108.99 per month) includes a wide range of RSNs, including all Bally Sports networks. Independent RSNs like NESN and YES Network are available with this plan as well; in fact the only team not available on DIRECTV STREAM besides the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies is the Philadelphia Phillies, who play on NBC Sports Philadelphia. That’s the best selection of any platform, and its five-day free trial allows all new customers to test out DIRECTV STREAM thoroughly before making a financial commitment.
Choose $15 OFF each month for the first 2 months of Entertainment with Sports Pack or $20 OFF each month for the first 3 months of Choice or Ultimate.
Fubo puts RSNs in its Base Pro plan, which starts at $91.98 per month (including the RSN fee) for viewers with one regional sports channel in their market. The price increases to $94.98 for viewers who have two or more RSNs in their area, and while Fubo does offer a free trial, its length varies depending on what time of month the customer subscribes. Unlike DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo does not allow local viewers to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers on Spectrum SportsNet LA or the New York Yankees on YES Network. Nevertheless, it carries an impressive volume of MLB teams via RSNs overall.
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Hulu + Live TV only offers teams whose games are carried on NBC Sports RSNs, so it’s not the ideal baseball streaming service. However, if you live in a market where your MLB team is carried by an NBC Sports channel, you can sign up to Hulu + Live TV for $76.99 per month and watch the channel as part of your base plan. Hulu + Live TV also offers the Disney Bundle at no extra cost, so viewers will get access to one out-of-market MLB contest per day during the regular season via ESPN+.
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YouTube TV also carries the NBC Sports channels, as well as Monumental Sports Network. Its small selection combined with the fact that it does not offer any free streaming services with a subscription places it behind each of the other streamers on this list.