Why You Can Trust CNET How to watch Rays baseball in 2019 without cable
From streaming Fox Sports Sun in Tampa to MLB.TV out of market, cord-cutting Tampa Bay Rays fans have many options for following their club this season.
Behind the left arm of Blake Snell, the Tampa Bay Rays expect to compete with the Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East.
The Tampa Bay Rays are frisky again! The team missed out on the postseason last year, despite winning 90 games to break a streak of four consecutive losing seasons. They employ current Cy Young award winner Blake Snell and have surrounded him with young offensive talent including Austin Meadows, Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz. Expect the Rays to be a thorn in the side of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees all season long in the AL East.
Rays fans who also happen to be cable TV cord cutters have a number of ways to watch the Rays whether you're in Tampa or an out-of-market follower of the club.
Stream the Rays live in Tampa
In 2019, Rays games will be shown on Fox Sports Sun in the Tampa market. All of the major live TV streaming services, starting with Sling TV for just $25 per month, offer Fox Sports Sun.
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Fox Sports Sun is included in Sling TV's $25-a-month Blue package. (The plan is currently discounted to $15 a month for the first three months, which gets you well past the All-Star break.) You can check to see if you live in the right market for Fox Sports Sun here. For national broadcasts, Sling TV's Orange plan includes ESPN and ESPN2, 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 $5 a month for Sling Orange customers or $10 a month for Sling Blue customers.
Hulu with Live TV costs $45 a month and includes Fox Sports Sun. Click the "View all channels in your area" link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your zip code. For national broadcasts, Hulu with Live TV offers ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1 and TBS but not MLB Network.
YouTube TV costs $50 a month and includes Fox Sports Sun. It also includes the channels that carry national baseball broadcasts: ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and TBS. Plug in your zip code on its welcome page to see if Fox Sports Sun is available in your area.
PlayStation Vue's $50-a-month Core plan includes Fox Sports Sun. The Core plan also includes ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1 MLB Network and TBS for national broadcasts. You can see if Fox Sports Sun is available in your area here.
FuboTV costs $55 per month and includes Fox Sports Sun. Click here for a list of the regional sports networks that FuboTV carries. It also offers Fox, FS1 and TBS for national broadcasts, but not ESPN, ESPN2 or MLB Network.
DirecTV Now's $70-a-month Max package includes Fox Sports Sun. It also includes ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1 and TBS for national broadcasts but not the MLB Network. You can use its channel lookup tool to see if Fox Sports Sun is available where you live.
All of the on live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our massive streaming services guide.
Out-of-market Rays streaming
If you are a Rays fan living outside of Tampa, you can't watch the Rays on Fox Sports Sun. You can, however, stream their games live with an MLB.TV subscription.
You've got two options:
- Pay $119 a year (or $25 a month) to be able to watch every out-of-market game live or on-demand, and the in-market (home) team with a 90-minute delay from the end of the game.
- Pay $92 a year to watch a single, out-of-market team. In this case, the Rays and nobody else.
Both MLB.TV plans also include streams of home and away radio broadcasts. The radio broadcasts aren't subject to the blackout rule, so you can listen to home team games live.