MLB and ESPN blew up baseball streaming. Here’s help

In 2026, figuring out how to watch baseball is more confusing than ever.

MLB teams are switching channels on cable and satellite TV as regional sports networks collapse, while new companies are carving up the rights for games on national television. New streaming services are also coming online for watching in-market games without blackouts, even as ESPN has introduced more complications for watching out-of-market games on MLB.TV.

I can’t make the situation any simpler, but as someone who covers the streaming space pretty closely, I can at least lay out the options in a way that makes sense. Here’s how to navigate the baseball streaming options as opening day approaches:

Step 1: Determine whether you’re in-market or out-of-market

How you’ll watch MLB games in 2026 depends largely on where your favorite team plays. To figure out which teams are in-market, I suggest entering your zip code on MLB’s Blackout Restrictions page.

• If the team you want to watch appears in the results, you will need an in-market streaming option to watch them. Head to “Step 2” below.
• If your team does not appear in the results, they are considered out-of-market and you will need MLB.TV to watch them. Skip over to “Step 3” instead.

Step 2: Find your in-market MLB streaming options

If the team you want to watch is in-market, you have two options for watching without a cable or satellite TV package:

• Sign up for a live TV streaming service that carriers your local team’s channel.
• Sign up directly to your team’s standalone streaming plan or regional sports streaming service.

The latter option is especially confusing because every team is handling standalone subscriptions differently. Some are partnering with the league on “Club.TV” packages, others are tied to existing regional sports networks, while others still have spun up their own networks to produce and distribute games.

To make things simpler, here’s a chart listing all 30 MLB teams, their corresponding pay TV channels, the live TV streaming services that carry those channels, and the options for standalone streaming.

If you’re having trouble reading the chart on this page, you can also load the Google Sheets version:

Team	Sports Network	Live TV streaming packages	Standalone plans
Arizona Diamondbacks	Diamondbacks TV	DirecTV, Fubo	DBacks.tv ($20/mo or 100/yr) *
Athletics	NBC Sports California	DirecTV, Fubo, YTTV, Hulu Live TV	Athletics.TV ($120/yr) * $18/mo add-on w/ Peacock
Atlanta Braves	BravesVision	DirecTV, Fubo	Braves.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr)*
Baltimore Orioles	MASN	DirecTV, Fubo	MASN+ ($100/season or $180/yr)
Boston Red Sox	NESN	DirecTV, Fubo	NESN 360 ($30/mo or $240/yr) Annual plan includes 4 Red Sox tickets
Chicago Cubs	Marquee Sports Network	DirecTV, Fubo	Marquee Sports Network ($20/mo)
Chicago White Sox	CHSN	DirecTV, Fubo	CHSN ($20/mo) $30/mo or $350/yr w/ Bulls and Blackhawks
Cincinnati Reds	Reds TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Reds.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Cleveland Guardians	Guardians TV	DirecTV, Fubo	CleGuardians.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Colorado Rockies	Rockies TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Rockies.TV ($20/mo or 100/yr) *
Detroit Tigers	Detroit SportsNet	DirecTV, Fubo	Detroit SportsNet ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Houston Astros	Space City Home Network	DirecTV, Fubo	SCHN+ ($20/mo or $200/yr)
Kansas City Royals	Royals TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Royals.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Los Angeles Angels	Angels TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Angels.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Los Angeles Dodgers	SportsNet LA	DirecTV	SNLA+ ($30/mo or $200/yr)Free with Spectrum internet + mobile
Miami Marlins	Marlins TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Marlins.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Milwaukee Brewers	Brewers TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Brewers.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Minnesota Twins	Twins TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Twins.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
New York Mets	Primary: SportsNet NY Secondary: WPIX	SNY: DirecTV, Hulu WPIX: DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu, YTTV	SNY ($25/mo, $125/season*, or $150/yr) WPIX games OTA only
New York Yankees	Primary: YES Network Secondary: Prime Video	DirecTV, Fubo (YES only)	Gotham Sports ($120/season Yankees-only) $175/yr with Nets, $300/yr with MSG
Philadelphia Phillies	NBC Sports Philadelphia	Fubo, YTTV, Hulu Live TV	Phillies.TV ($25/mo or $170/season) * $25/mo add-on w/ Peacock
Pittsburgh Pirates	SportsNet Pittsburgh	DirecTV, Fubo	SNP 360 ($22/mo or $100/season)
San Diego Padres	Padres TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Padres.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
San Francisco Giants	NBC Sports Bay Area	DirecTV, Fubo, YTTV, Hulu Live TV	Giants.TV ($20/mo or $120/season) * $18/mo add-on w/ Peacock
Seattle Mariners	Mariners TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Mariners.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
St. Louis Cardinals	Cardinals TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Cardinals.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Tampa Bay Rays	Rays TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Rays.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *
Texas Rangers	Rangers Sports Network	DirecTV, Fubo	Victory+ ($150/season) Free OTA on Fridays
Toronto Blue Jays	Sportsnet	–	SportsNet+ ($20/mo or $180/yr)
Washington Nationals	Nationals TV	DirecTV, Fubo	Nationals.TV ($20/mo or $100/yr) *

You can sign up for DirecTV or Fubo via these links. Unfortunately, these services still won’t carry nationally-televised games on channels like ESPN and streaming services like Apple TV. More on those options in Step 4 below.

Step 3: Understand out-of-market MLB streaming options (and beware of ESPN Unlimited)

What if you want to watch a team that doesn’t play where you live? That’s where MLB.TV comes in. This long-running service provides access to all out-of-market games except those that are nationally televised. (See Step 4 below.)

Some options to be aware of:

• The main MLB.TV package, which covers all out-of-market teams, costs $20 per month or $150 for the season.
• Some teams offer discounted bundles with MLB.TV for both in-market and out-of-market teams. These are marked with asterisks in my chart above.
• MLB.TV also offers single-team plans for watching one team that does not play where you live. These plans range from $100 to $130 per season, depending on team.
• Once again, T-Mobile customers can get MLB.TV for free this year. You’ll have to redeem the offer between March 24 and March 30.

Unfortunately, ESPN has made this once-simple service needlessly more complicated in 2026.

Now that ESPN owns MLB.TV, it’s requiring every new subscriber for its all-teams package to take a free trial of ESPN Unlimited, which is an entirely separate $30 per month service that carries ESPN’s cable channels. You don’t need ESPN Unlimited to maintain an MLB.TV subscription, but you’ll have to start a trial for it when you sign up. This slimy behavior on ESPN’s part will almost certainly result in some folks paying $30 per month extra for MLB.TV by accident.

So here’s my advice: After signing up for MLB.TV, immediately cancel the ESPN Unlimited subscription. You’ll still get the free trial, but you won’t get auto-billed at the end.

Note that the mandatory ESPN trial does not apply to the single-team plans, the T-Mobile offer, or the in-market “Club.TV” packages covered in Step 2 above. If you’re renewing MLB.TV from a previous season, you’re exempt from ESPN’s sneaky trial tactics as well.

Step 4: Think about nationally-televised games

Regardless of whether you have an in-market streaming plan or MLB.TV for out-of-market games, you’ll still have to contend with nationally-televised games. Here’s what you need to know:

• ESPN will carry 30 exclusive games in 2026. So far it has only released a schedule for four of them.
• Fox and FS1 will carry 85 games in 2026 and has published its full schedule.
• NBCUniversal will carry more than 60 games in 2026, more than 40 of which will be Peacock exclusives. (The rest will simulcast on NBC.) Here’s the schedule.
• TBS will carry weekly MLB games on Tuesdays. Here’s the first-half schedule.
• Apple TV will carry two games on Friday nights. Here’s the first-half schedule.

Watching all of these games without a pay TV package would require some combination of ESPN Unlimited ($30 per month), Fox One ($20 per month), Peacock Premium ($11 per month), HBO Max’s ad-free plan ($17 per month), and Apple TV ($13 per month). That approach is probably unwise for all but the biggest baseball fans.

Some alternative strategies to consider instead:

• Consider some sports-centric live TV services that are cheaper than a full pay TV bundle. These can cover ESPN, Fox, FS1, NBC, and TBS.
• Note that you can bundle Apple TV and Peacock for $15 per month, only $2 per month more than Apple TV alone.
• You can also bundle ESPN Unlimited and Fox One for $40 per month, saving $10.
• If you only need Apple TV for a game or two, consider a 30-day free trial instead.
• Only dip into these services for a month when they’re carrying a high-stakes game you care about. Immediately cancel after signing up to avoid being auto-billed for an ongoing subscription.
• Vote with your wallet and just skip these games entirely. The vast majority will still be on your in-market service or MLB.TV for out-of-market viewing.

Answers to common questions

Are there blackouts on the Club.TV packages, such as Reds.TV and Mariners.TV?

No, these are in-market options that provide the same telecast you’d get from a cable or satellite TV provider. Nationally televised games (for instance, on ESPN or Apple TV) will not be available, but these are not blackouts as there won’t be a local telecast in most cases.

Do the Club.TV packages cover both home and away games?

Yes. Again, these are the same telecasts you’d get from a cable or satellite TV provider.

Does MLB.TV cover both home and away games?

If your team plays outside the area where you live, you’ll get both their home and away games, with one major exception: Games against your local, in-market team have blackout restrictions. For instance, if you live in Cincinnati and sign up for MLB.TV to watch the Yankees, games between the Yankees and Reds will be blacked out, both at home and on the road. There’s no way around that but to pay for a month of Reds.TV.

What if I want to watch two in-market teams, like the Angels and Dodgers in Los Angeles, or the Yankees and Mets in New York?

Sadly you’ll have to sign up for both teams’ in-market options, or pick a live TV streaming service that carries both of their respective networks. This is your punishment for not picking a side.

Couldn’t I just use a VPN to watch in-market games through MLB.TV?

You can try, but expect hassles. In my experience, this required a lot of jumping through hoops on TV devices, and the VPN itself will cost extra. There’s also no guarantee that MLB.TV won’t block you, in which case you’ll have wasted the costs of both an MLB.TV subscription and the VPN.

I hope all this was helpful. Got more questions? Sign up for my Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter and send me a reply, and I’ll do my best to help.