Baseball season is officially underway. Too bad watching the games can still be an ordeal.
In 2025, Major League Baseball has yet to rally its teams behind a cohesive strategy for streaming local ballgames. While some teams are partnering with the league on distribution, others are going their own way, working with regional sports networks, or clinging to expensive pay TV bundles. Factor in all the nationally-televised games scattered across cable networks and streaming services, and there’s a lot for baseball fans to think about.
As I’ve done with the NBA and NHL, I’ll survey the scene of local baseball streaming options so you know what to expect when the weather warms up.
In-market MLB streaming options at a glance
Here’s where things stand for in-market baseball streaming options as of February 20, 2025:
| Team | Sports Network | Supported streaming bundles | Standalone options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Diamondbacks TV | DTV Stream, Fubo | DBacks.tv ($100/yr) * |
| Athletics | NBC Sports California | DTV Stream, Fubo, YTTV, Hulu Live TV | Athletics.TV ($20/mo) $18/mo add-on w/ Peacock |
| Atlanta Braves | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Baltimore Orioles | MASN | DTV Stream, Fubo | – |
| Boston Red Sox | NESN | DTV Stream, Fubo | NESN 360 ($30/mo or $330/yr) |
| Chicago Cubs | Marquee Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | Marquee Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Chicago White Sox | CHSN | DTV Stream, Fubo | CHSN ($20/mo) Free over-the-air |
| Cincinnati Reds | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Cleveland Guardians | Guardians TV | DTV Stream, Fubo | CleGuardians.TV ($100/yr) * |
| Colorado Rockies | Rockies TV | DTV Stream, Fubo | Rockies.TV ($100/yr) * |
| Detroit Tigers | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Houston Astros | Space City Home Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | – |
| Kansas City Royals | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Los Angeles Angels | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | DTV Stream | SNLA+ ($30/mo or $200/yr) Free with Spectrum internet + mobile | |
| Miami Marlins | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Milwaukee Brewers | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Minnesota Twins | Twins TV | DTV Stream, Fubo | Twins.TV ($100/yr) * |
| New York Mets | Primary: SportsNet NY Secondary: WPIX | SNY: DTV Stream, Hulu WPIX: DTV, Fubo, Hulu, YTTV | SNY ($25/mo or $125/yr) * WPIX games OTA only |
| New York Yankees | Primary: YES Network Secondary: Prime Video | DTV Stream, Fubo (YES only) | Gotham Sports ($20/mo or $200/yr) Prime Video: $140/yr |
| Philadelphia Phillies | NBC Sports Philadelphia | Fubo, YTTV, Hulu Live TV | Phillies.TV ($25/mo) $25/mo add-on w/ Peacock |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | SportsNet Pittsburgh | DTV Stream, Fubo | SNP 360 ($18/mo) |
| San Diego Padres | Padres TV | DTV Stream, Fubo | Padres.TV ($100/yr) * |
| San Francisco Giants | NBC Sports Bay Area | DTV Stream, Fubo, YTTV, Hulu Live TV | Giants.TV ($20/mo) $18/mo add-on w/ Peacock |
| Seattle Mariners | Root Sports | DTV Stream, Fubo | – |
| St. Louis Cardinals | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Tampa Bay Rays | FanDuel Sports Network | DTV Stream, Fubo | FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo) |
| Texas Rangers | Rangers Sports Network | DTV Stream | Victory+ ($100/yr) Free OTA on Fridays |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Sportsnet | – | SportsNet+ ($20/mo or $180/yr) |
| Washington Nationals | MASN | DTV Stream, Fubo | – |
Looking at the league as a whole, in-market coverage falls into a handful of buckets:
In-market MLB.TV: Currently, five MLB teams (Diamondbacks, Guardians, Rockies, Twins, Padres) are partnering directly with the league to distribute local games at $100 for the season. Fans of these teams are the biggest winners, as MLB offers a polished app with features like live-game DVR, alternate audio feeds, and whiparound league coverage from MLB Big Inning. Out-of-market MLB.TV games aren’t included, but you can add them for $100 extra, which is $50 off the regular price.
MLB hybrids: In-market Dodgers and Mets games will also stream through the MLB app this year, but with Spectrum SportsNet and SNY handling the distribution, respectively. Pricing is higher than MLB.TV’s other in-market options, and there’s no mention of the usual MLB app perks such as Big Inning and live radio feeds.
FanDuel Sports Network: Formerly known as Bally Sports (and, before that, as Fox Sports Networks), these are the channels operated by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group). This year, the network will offer standalone, in-market streaming options for all its teams, either through the FanDuel Sports Network app or as an add-on through Amazon Prime Video. The price is $20 per month in both cases.
The lone rangers: Instead of working with MLB or Main Street Sports Group, a bunch of teams have either spun up their own distribution plans or formed bespoke partnerships. Those include the Boston Red Sox (on NESN 360), Chicago Cubs (on Marquee Sports Network), Chicago White Sox (on CHSN), the New York Yankees (on Gotham Sports), Pittsburgh Pirates (on SNP 360), and Texas Rangers (on Victory+).
OTA oddities: Compared to the NBA and NHL, baseball is making fewer forays into over-the-air distribution. The only team offering all local games for free with an antenna is the White Sox, whose games will air on CHSN. Mets fans will get some games on WPIX, and the Rangers Sports Network will offer free over-the-air broadcasts on Fridays, but that’s it.
MLB or Peacock bundlers: Peacock is offering in-market access to its regional NBC Sports in Boston, Philadelphia, and northern California at an additional charge. But you can also subscribe to those services directly instead.
The heads-in-the-sand: As of now, four MLB teams are pretending that cord-cutting isn’t real, and they will require a bloated pay TV package to watch their games in-market. The hall of shame includes the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals (both on MASN); Houston Astros (on Space City Home Network); and the Seattle Mariners (Root Sports); Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Athletic that it’s “made clear to the clubs that blackouts were a problem and that reach should be a priority,” but apparently these teams missed the memo.
A lot could still change by opening day. The Cincinnati Reds, for instance, originally planned to drop FanDuel Sports Network for MLB.TV, only to reverse course last month, so other teams could potentially follow. Rumors of Peacock distributing NBC’s regional sports networks will hopefully pan out, but haven’t yet. Meanwhile, the Twins and Guardians haven’t announced which traditional pay TV providers will carry their newly established channels yet. It’s a fluid situation and I’ll update this story as things happen.
National baseball streaming
As in years past, the in-market streaming options above won’t spare you from the occasional blackout for nationally-televised games, nor will they entitle you to playoff coverage should your team survive into October. Still, whether you’ll need a big pay TV package to watch these games is a question of timing.
Here’s where we stand:
- Max already offers live sports from TBS, currently at no extra charge beyond its standard plans, which start at $10 per month (with ads). This should cover the channel’s Tuesday night games and postseason coverage.
- ESPN and Fox both plan to offer standalone streaming services later this year, but timing and pricing is unknown.
- Apple TV+ continues to stream select games on Friday nights as part of its $11-per-month subscription.
- The Roku Channel will offer Sunday morning games for free.
Will anyone bundle it all up?
There’s definitely an opportunity for skinnier TV packages focused on broadcast, national, and regional sports coverage, but none have materialized yet.
DirecTV’s MySports package, for instance, is cheaper than its standard plans at $70 per month, but it excludes regional sports for now. Comcast has its own “Sports and News” package for $70 per month, but it doesn’t include regional sports either. Fubo, meanwhile, says it’s working on a “Sports & Broadcasting” package as part of its impending takeover by Disney, but it hasn’t announced any specifics.
That leaves the usual live TV streaming options, most of which don’t carry regional sports themselves, and continue to get more expensive.
I don’t want to be too sour about all this. Standalone MLB streaming options are more plentiful in 2025—here in Cincinnati, for instance, Reds fans can finally watch without an expensive pay TV package—and unbundled options from Fox and ESPN will help, especially if they’re here in time for the playoffs.
But for a league that’s now preaching the value of reach, it’s hard to look at the cohesion with other sports—consistent NFL broadcast coverage on Sundays, Apple’s blackout-free MLS offering—and not see a missed opportunity.
Further reading: These are the best live TV streaming services.
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Author: Jared Newman, Contributor
Jared has been a freelance technology journalist for more than 15 years and is a regular contributor to PCWorld, Fast Company, and TechHive, where he's written a weekly cord-cutting column since 2014. His Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter has more than 30,000 subscribers, and his Advisorator tech advice newsletter is read by nearly 10,000 people each week. Jared has a master's degree in journalism from NYU and specializes in making complex tech topics easy to understand, from streaming and cord-cutting to neat apps and useful tech tricks. He is based in Cincinnati, OH.