Why You Can Trust CNET MLB 2024: How to Watch, Stream Baseball This Season Without Cable
The boys of summer are back, but the way you watch your favorite team may soon change. Here's what you need to know.
The Dodgers and Padres got the 2024 MLB season officially started last week when they met in Seoul, South Korea for a pair of games, but today is Opening Day with all 30 MLB clubs in action to begin the 2024 campaign. There is plenty to look forward to this year, but change could soon be coming to the way you watch baseball -- if not this season, then next.
There has been a great upheaval in the past year with the regional sports networks that broadcast MLB games locally. The biggest two RSN networks are in tatters or gone altogether. Diamond Sports Group, owner of Bally Sports, is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, and Warner Bros. Discovery has sold off or shut down all of its AT&T SportsNet RSNs.
Shohei Ohtani leads a loaded Los Angeles Dodgers team into the 2024 MLB season.
Most teams will be on the same RSN channels as last season, but notably, three teams -- the Diamondbacks, Rockies and Padres -- have already exited the RSN model and instead will stream their own games through MLB. These teams will also be on local cable, satellite and streaming TV platforms, but exact details have yet to be announced.
This new MLB offering is basically the in-market analog to the long-running, out-of-market MLB.TV service. If you live outside your favorite team's home market, MLB.TV remains the best way to watch the vast majority of your team's games throughout the season.
Keep reading to find out the best way to watch or stream baseball in 2024 no matter where you live or which team you follow.
What's going on with the Bally Sports RSNs?
Bally Sports owner Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy right before the 2023 season started and announced earlier this year that it received a $115 million investment from Amazon. The bankruptcy process is still ongoing, but Diamond reached a deal with creditors so it can continue operations through the 2024 MLB season.
Bally Sports airs games in the home markets for 12 MLB teams: the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.
It's expected that any change to the Bally Sports RSNs for each of these teams won't happen until after the 2024 season. What happens next year is anyone's guess, but with Amazon's involvement, signs point toward Prime Video as a likely landing spot.
Linear media rights (for traditional cable, satellite and streaming TV services) and streaming rights are two very different things, however, so it's unlikely that it will be as simple as each of these 12 teams offering a streaming package on Prime Video next season.
For example, Diamond owns the linear rights to broadcast games for 12 teams, but owns the digital streaming rights for only five: the Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers and Rays. Many details still need to be ironed out between now and next year. So it's possible those five will be available through Amazon, but the others won't. Again, a lot still needs to be figured out.
What has replaced the AT&T SportsNet RSNs?
With Warner Bros. Discovery leaving the RSN business, three of the four teams that previously aired their games on an AT&T SportsNet RSN have now taken ownership of their RSN. The fourth team, the Rockies, also took ownership of local broadcast rights but moved on from an RSN model and to a direct-to-consumer streaming model.
The Astros will now broadcast its games in the Houston market on a new RSN called Space City Home Network, a joint venture it shares with the NBA's Houston Rockets.
Similarly, Pirates games will now be broadcast in the Pittsburgh market on SportsNet Pittsburgh, which is a joint venture with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and Fenway Sports Group. Fenway Sports Group owns both the Penguins and Boston Red Sox, and has a majority stake in NESN, the Red Sox's RSN.
Mariners games will still be broadcast on Root SportsNet Northwest, an RSN the team now owns outright after Warner sold its minority share.
The biggest change of the former AT&T SportsNet teams is with the Rockies, whose games are no longer available on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain and no new RSN channel was created to take its place. Instead, the Rockies will stream their games live on the Rockies.TV service, which is run by MLB.
So, no RSN for the Rockies, Padres or Diamondbacks?
That's right -- while some teams created their own RSN to broadcast their games locally, three teams have gone to the direct-to-consumer streaming model. For fans who live in the home market of any of these three NL West teams, it'll cost $20 a month or $100 for the season to stream the games at Rockies.TV, Padres.TV or Dbacks.TV.
The service will let in-market fans watch most but not every game of the season because games that are nationally broadcast on ESPN, Fox, FS1, MLB Network, TBS or Apple TV Plus will be blacked out on the service. It's the same situation out-of-market fans run into with MLB.TV.
You can also combine one of these in-market streaming services and out-of-market MLB.TV to get access to nearly every non-national game of the season. Blackout restrictions will apply, but the combined package costs $200 for the season, which is a savings of $50.
Live TV streaming service vs. MLB.TV
Unless you're a Rockies, Padres or Diamondbacks fan with one of the new in-market streaming services, then you have one of two ways to stream MLB games day in, day out without a cable or satellite TV subscription:
- Subscribe to a live TV streaming service such as Fubo or DirecTV Stream
- Subscribe to MLB.TV
Depending on where you live, one of the major live TV streaming services could carry the channel that has your favorite team. Those channels, called regional sports networks, deliver almost all the regular-season games live.
Most such services, however, carry only a handful of the 30 RSNs that show MLB games -- and they're typically the most expensive. DirecTV Stream carries the most RSNs, but you'll need to spring for its $109-per-month plan, as its basic $80-per-month plan doesn't include RSNs. Sling TV, a service that costs $40 per month, doesn't have any RSNs for baseball. If you're a baseball fan who needs your team's RSN, a cable subscription might actually be cheaper than streaming.
The other option is MLB.TV, a separate service that carries every out-of-market game played by every team, live. It's great for hard-core fans in general. MLB.TV costs $30 a month or $150 for the year. A single-team option runs $130 for the season.
The big catch with MLB.TV is the blackout restriction: You can't watch national games (those on ESPN, Fox, MLB Network, TBS or Apple TV Plus) or your local team's games live. Instead, they become available about 90 minutes after the game ends. You also can't watch your local team through MLB.TV while it's playing in its home market.
If you're a Yankees fan in the New York area, for example, you can't start to watch the Yankees game until an hour and a half after the final out. Other games aren't blacked out live, which makes MLB.TV ideal if you live outside of your team's home market.
MLB.TV also isn't the only streaming option for baseball fans. As mentioned with the Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies there are a few others that let you pay just the regional sports network without requiring you to get a traditional package. We'll get to this more later, but the list of these teams include:
- Arizona Diamondbacks (team's own service)
- Boston Red Sox (NESN 360)
- Colorado Rockies (team's own service)
- Detroit Tigers (Bally Sports Plus)
- Kansas City Royals (Bally Sports Plus)
- Miami Marlins (Bally Sports Plus)
- Milwaukee Brewers (Bally Sports Plus)
- New York Yankees (YES app)
- San Diego Padres (team's own service)
- Tampa Bay Rays (Bally Sports Plus)
Fubo: Best for (most) fans of the home team
Due to MLB.TV's blackout restriction, a live TV streaming service is the best bet for following your local team. Many services carry the RSN that has exclusive rights to most regular season games, but availability varies by location and service.
In addition to the RSNs listed below, live TV services carry most if not all of the major national TV networks -- ESPN, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and TBS -- that regularly televise matchups from different teams around the league.
Here's how the RSNs stack up on each service.
RSN availability by team and streaming service
| Team | Network name | Fubo ($92 or $95) | DirecTV Stream ($109) | YouTube TV ($73) | Hulu with Live TV ($77) | Sling Blue ($40) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | Bally Sports South | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Baltimore Orioles | MASN | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Boston Red Sox | NESN | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Chicago Cubs | Marquee Sports Network | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Chicago White Sox | NBC Sports Chicago | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cincinnati Reds | Bally Sports Ohio | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Cleveland Guardians | Bally Sports Great Lakes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Detroit Tigers | Bally Sports Detroit | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Houston Astros | Space City Home Network | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Kansas City Royals | Bally Sports Kansas City | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Los Angeles Angels | Bally Sports West | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Spectrum SportsNet LA | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Miami Marlins | Bally Sports Florida | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Bally Sports Wisconsin | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Minnesota Twins | Bally Sports North | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| New York Mets | SportsNet NY (SNY) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| New York Yankees | YES | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Oakland Athletics | NBC Sports California | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Philadelphia Phillies | NBC Sports Philadelphia | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | SportsNet Pittsburgh | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| San Francisco Giants | NBC Sports Bay Area | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Seattle Mariners | Root Sports Northwest | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Bally Sports Midwest | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Bally Sports Sun | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Texas Rangers | Bally Sports Southwest | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Toronto Blue Jays | SportsNet | No | No | No | No | No |
| Washington Nationals | MASN | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Some key takeaways:
- The RSNs above are typically available only to local subscribers. Refer to the respective individual services' details below to determine whether you live in a place where you can receive a particular RSN.
- None of the (US-based) services carry the RSN for the Toronto Blue Jays.
- DirecTV Stream's $109-per-month Choice package includes 25 of the 27 RSNs for baseball -- all but the Phillies and Blue Jays.
- Fubo has the second most RSNs for baseball with 24 teams -- or 80% of MLB clubs. It does, however, lack TBS, so you'll miss out on those games during the regular season and probably want to switch to a different service when the playoffs roll around.
- Fubo charges an RSN fee, either $12 per month if you get one RSN or $15 per month if you have two or more in your area. It's still cheaper than DirecTV's Choice option, whose $109-per-month price already includes an RSN fee.
- It's slim pickings for the other streaming services. Hulu Plus Live TV offers five RSNs, and YouTube TV offers only four, while Sling TV doesn't offer a single RSN.
If you're looking to watch your local team night in and night out, Fubo is likely your best bet. While DirecTV Stream offers more RSNs, Fubo now covers most teams, and its base Pro package is still cheaper than DirecTV's Choice, even with RSN fees.
If you live in an area where Fubo doesn't cover your team, DirecTV is a good backup. But assuming you follow one of the 24 teams it covers, save the money.
Fubo may not have the most RSNs, but it has a whole lot of them. Its cheapest, $80-per-month Pro package includes ESPN, Fox, FS1, MLB Network plus RSNs that are available in your area. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels and RSNs are available where you live. It does, however, lack TBS.
Once you factor in the RSN fee, that price becomes either $92 or $95 per month, depending on where you live.
MLB.TV subscription: Best for out-of-market games
Major League Baseball's official streaming service is great for following your favorite team if you live outside its TV market. Because of the 90-minute blackout described above, however, it's much less useful for following your local home team.
MLB.TV subscribers also miss games that are broadcast nationally on ESPN, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and TBS as well as those that air on streaming services like Apple TV Plus and Amazon Prime Video (the latter is applicable right now only to Yankees fans in the New York area). Those games are blacked out on MLB.TV, which can be particularly irksome for fans of the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and other big-market teams that are frequently selected for national broadcasts.
MLB.TV normally costs $150 for the season or $30 per month if you'd rather pay monthly. As a subscriber, you can watch out-of-market games live or on demand, and the in-market (home) team with a 90-minute delay from the end of the game.
Those who care only about watching one team can get a "single team" option for a one-time $130 fee for the season.
With MLB.TV, you can also listen to home and away radio broadcasts. The radio broadcasts aren't subject to the blackout rule, so you can listen to home team games live. MLB.TV also includes a ton of video content, including classic games, baseball documentaries and old This Week in Baseball episodes.
Even if you don't subscribe, you can still watch baseball with the MLB app. It offers one Free Game of the Day that anyone can stream live for free.
ESPN's stand-alone streaming service currently costs $11 per month or $110 per year. In the past, it allowed you to watch one game nearly every day of the six-month MLB season. The catch is that your local team's games are blacked out when they appear on ESPN Plus, similar to MLB.TV. Also, the games shown on ESPN Plus aren't exclusive to ESPN Plus and are also available on MLB.TV.
Other options for nationally broadcast games
The following streaming services each have deals with MLB to carry select games exclusively this season.
Apple is continuing its expansion into sports streaming. Like last year, it'll stream a baseball doubleheader every Friday night this season on its Apple TV Plus service. Apple TV Plus costs $10 per month.
Apple's MLB games will be free from blackout restrictions, so you'll be able to watch them no matter where you live and which teams are playing. The games are exclusive to Apple TV Plus, however, which means you won't find them on your local RSN if your local team is playing.
Apple's MLB broadcasts will begin on March 29. A full schedule of games through June can be found here.
Other live TV services
DirecTV Stream carries the most RSNs, in its $109 tier, but some of the services below also carry a few. If one of them has your home team, it could save you some money. The chart above has the details.
DirecTV Stream Choice runs $109 per month and includes nearly every RSN for baseball (except for the Blue Jays and Phillies). It also includes ESPN, TBS, Fox, FS1 and MLB Network. Check out which local networks and RSNs it offers.
Hulu Plus Live TV costs $77 per month and carries five RSNs for baseball, along with ESPN, Fox, FS1, TBS, and now MLB Network. The service now also includes the Disney Bundle, which comes with ESPN Plus and Disney Plus. Click the "View all channels in your area" link at the bottom of its welcome page to see which local networks and RSNs are available where you live.
YouTube TV costs $73 per month and offers four RSNs for baseball, along with ESPN, Fox and TBS for national broadcasts. It no longer offers MLB Network, however, which is a bummer for baseball fans. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks and RSNs are available in your area.
Sling Blue still lacks a single RSN to watch baseball. You can, however, use Sling to watch national baseball broadcasts. Sling TV's Orange plan includes ESPN, and the Blue plan includes Fox and FS1. Both plans offer TBS. The MLB Network is available as part of the Sports Extra add-on, which costs $11 per month for either the Blue or Orange plan or $15 for the combined Orange-and-Blue plan.
The individual Orange plan costs $40 per month each, while the Blue plan runs either $40 or $45 per month depending on where you live. The Orange-and-Blue bundle plan similarly runs $55 or $60 per month, again depending on where you live. See which local channels you get with Sling Blue.
Each live TV streaming service offers a free trial, allows you to cancel anytime and requires a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
Red Sox games on NESN 360
The New England Sports Network, or NESN, has its own stand-alone streaming service, but it's available only to those who live in the area.
NESN 360 gives Red Sox fans in New England a way to watch their games without a cable subscription. The service costs $30 per month, or $330 per year, and offers all NESN programming. NESN is the regional sports network of the Red Sox and Bruins, so fans of both sports will have plenty to watch year-round.
You can stream from the NESN website or with the app that's available on Apple TV, Fire TV, Google TV and Roku, as well as on iOS and Android devices. Those who already have NESN as part of their cable package can access the app for free.
For those looking for higher quality streams, NESN says home games will stream in 4K HDR on compatible smart TV devices.
Despite Fairfield County, Connecticut, being in New England, fans living there aren't allowed to join, because it's outside of NESN's regional network. You can click the button below to scroll down and enter your ZIP code. This will let you know if you're eligible to sign up.
Yankees games on the YES App
Along with their longtime rivals from Boston, the New York Yankees were one of the first teams to offering a cord-cutting option with a streaming version of its YES cable network to those who live in its local broadcast area that includes New York State, Connecticut, northeastern Pennsylvania, and north and central New Jersey
The Yankees direct YES streaming service costs $25 per month if purchased on a monthly subscription or $240 if purchased annually. As part of a special launch promotion at the start of the season, YES will offer the service at a discounted rate of $20 per month or $200 for the year. This deal ends on April 30.
The new service will allow for watching Yankees games as well as those of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty. The service can be viewed on the YES website or its app that's available on a host of devices, including iOS, Android and smart TV platforms from Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV and Samsung.
Yankees games on Prime Video
For Yankees fans in the team's market, Amazon (which owns a piece of the YES Network) will once again stream 21 Yankees games on Prime Video this season. You'll need to be a Prime member too (currently $139 per year).
These games are exclusive to Prime Video and won't be viewable without a Prime Video account even if you pay for cable TV or the YES app. A full list of games can be found here, with the first exclusive contest set for April 10 when the Yankees host the Marlins.
Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals and Tigers games on Bally Sports Plus
Bally Sports has its own stand-alone streaming service for a handful of teams as well. Like the NESN and YES services, it's available only to those who live in the teams' respective areas.
The largest owner of regional sports networks nationwide, Bally Sports currently offers a stand-alone streaming subscription for five of those teams, under the Bally Sports Plus service. Only people who live in those five markets can subscribe. The teams (and markets) are:
- Brewers (Milwaukee area)
- Marlins (Miami area)
- Rays (Tampa Bay area)
- Royals (Kansas City area)
- Tigers (Detroit area)
Currently, none of the other Bally Sports teams (see the table above for the full list) are available to stream without a separate cable or live TV service subscription.
The service costs $20 per month, or $190 for a year, and includes live games as well as pre- and postgame coverage and original programming. (Florida users may be able to bundle the Miami and Tampa Bay subscriptions into one $30 per month package that gets both the Marlins and Rays.)
Subscribers can watch via the Bally Sports app on phones and tablets (iOS, Android), on TVs via Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV, as well as on BallySports.com. You can click the button below and enter your ZIP code. This will let you know if you're eligible to sign up.
The MLB's At Bat add-on
The MLB's At Bat app is great on phones and even better on tablets. If you bought an MLB.TV subscription (as outlined above), you can log in to your account and watch games live in the app. There's a cheaper subscription option for use with the mobile app only, but it's limited in what it lets you watch.
You can buy an At Bat subscription via the MLB At Bat app. It costs $20 per year (or $3 per month) and lets you listen to the home or away radio broadcasts and watch one game per day during the season. You can't choose which game you want to watch; you're stuck with the MLB.TV Free Game of the Day.