The Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season is back this week, with Opening Day starting on Thursday, March 30.
MLB Opening Day 2023 will be one to watch as all 30 teams play their first regular season game on the same day — the first time such an event has occurred since 1968.
With so many major league teams, it can be difficult to figure out where and how to watch the games you want to watch — especially for cord cutters.
For example, nationally televised games will be broadcast on Fox, FS1, TBS, ESPN, and MLB Network, while local team games will be broadcast on regional sports networks (RSNs).
Another channel worth watching is MLB Network Strike Zone as it provides highlights, updates, scores, standings, and team stats from around the league. The channel broadcasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, when several games are played at once, so you don’t miss the action.
Additionally, this will be the second time this year that Apple TV+ is the exclusive home of “Friday Night Baseball.” Peacock also broadcasts exclusive MLB games live with its Sunday morning “MLB Sunday Leadoff” package.
In total, the MLB regular season consists of 2,430 games. Starting with the obvious, MLB.TV is a streaming package that offers Major League Baseball directly.
The subscription costs $24.99 per month or $149.99 per year and allows fans to watch every out-of-market game, making it a great option for viewers who want to watch a team that isn’t playing in their hometown.
While MLB.TV subscribers won’t be able to watch their local team live, games can be watched on-demand 90 minutes after they end.
Fans can sign up for MLB.TV either on the MLB website or through streaming services such as Prime Video and Fubo.
The most expensive on the list is DirecTV’s “Choice” plan, which is $84.99 per month. Fortunately, the plan is also the most comprehensive, with access to every national MLB channel, including Fox, FS1, TBS, ESPN and MLB Network.
You will most likely also receive your local RSN, depending on your location. When not exclusively broadcast on national channels or streaming on Apple TV+ and Peacock, MLB games are broadcast by regional sports networks (RSNs). Each team has a dedicated RSN that broadcasts to a specific territory defined by MLB.
You can enter your zip code into DIRECTV’s local RSN locator to find out which RSNs are available in your area and which teams cover those RSNs. It’s a good tool to use and you don’t have to be a DIRECTV customer to use it.
If you live in your favorite team’s broadcast area, you’ll need access to that team’s RSN to watch most regular season games. If you live outside of this region, you’ll need an out-of-market TV option like MLB EXTRA INNINGS (for cable and satellite users) or MLB.TV (for streaming users).
Fortunately, big events like the MLB All-Star Game and the World Series are very accessible. We have outlined important MLB events and their corresponding channels in the next section.
Sources: Techcrunch | cabletv