MLB Streaming 2021: Watch Your Favorite Team Live Every Day Without Cable
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The Major League Baseball season is a month old, and the game's best player and best team are off to hot starts. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels just turned in , which is saying something, since Trout is and he's not yet 30 years old. Across town, the world champion Dodgers have the game's best but still trail the rival Giants on the young season, while the are lurking and should be in the mix all year in the NL West. The Giants have surprised with their fast start, but the most surprising team thus far , who lead the heavily favored Twins and White Sox in the AL Central.
Even if your team is off to a slow start, there's still plenty of baseball to be played in the 2021 season. The calendar has just turned to May, which means warmer weather and hotter bats. Baseball fans have a few ways to watch their favorite team's games without subscribing to cable. Where to start depends on which team you follow and where you live.
Will 2021 be the year that Mike Trout finally wins a playoff game? He's doing everything in his power thus far to get the Angels back to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Steph Chambers/Getty Images
Live TV streaming service vs. MLB.TV
There are two major ways to stream MLB games day in, day out without a cable or satellite TV subscription:
Subscribe to a like AT&T TV or YouTube TV.Subscribe to .
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 of 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. AT&T TV carries the most RSNs, but you'll need to spring for its $85-a-month plan; its basic $70-a-month plan doesn't include RSNs. Sling TV, a service that costs $35 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.
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The other option is , a separate service that carries every game played by every team live. It's great for hard-core fans in general. MLB.TV costs $130 for the season and also includes the playoffs and World Series.
The big catch with MLB.TV is the local blackout restriction: You can't watch your local team's games live. Instead, they become available about 90 minutes after the game ends. 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 teams' games aren't blacked out live, which makes MLB.TV ideal for fans who want to follow one or more of the 28 or 29 teams based in other cities, aka out-of-market teams.
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AT&T TV: Best for 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 every regular season game, 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 networks -- ESPN, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and TBS -- that regularly televise matchups from different teams around the league. Details are at the top of this article.
Here's how the RSNs stack up on each service.
RSN availability by team and streaming service
Team
Network Name
AT&T TV
FuboTV
YouTube TV
Hulu with Live TV
Sling Blue
Arizona Diamondbacks
Bally Sports Arizona
Yes
No
No
No
No
Atlanta Braves
Bally Sports South
Yes
No
No
No
No
Baltimore Orioles
MASN
Yes
No
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
No
No
No
No
Cleveland Indians
SportsTime Ohio
Yes
No
No
No
No
Colorado Rockies
AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
Yes
No
No
No
No
Detroit Tigers
Bally Sports Detroit
Yes
No
No
No
No
Houston Astros
AT&T SportsNet Southwest and Bally Sports Southwest
Yes
Yes (AT&T SportsNet Southwest)
No
No
No
Kansas City Royals
Bally Sports Kansas City
Yes
No
No
No
No
Los Angeles Angels
Bally Sports West
Yes
No
No
No
No
Los Angeles Dodgers
Spectrum SportsNet LA
Yes
No
No
No
No
Miami Marlins
Bally Sports Florida
Yes
No
No
No
No
Milwaukee Brewers
Bally Sports Wisconsin
Yes
No
No
No
No
Minnesota Twins
Bally Sports North
Yes
No
No
No
No
New York Mets
SportsNet NY
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
New York Yankees
YES
Yes
No
No
No
No
Oakland Athletics
NBC Sports California
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Philadelphia Phillies
NBC Sports Philadelphia
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Pittsburgh Pirates
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
San Diego Padres
Bally Sports San Diego
Yes
No
No
No
No
San Francisco Giants
NBC Sports Bay Area
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Seattle Mariners
Root Sports Northwest
Yes
No
No
No
No
St. Louis Cardinals
Bally Sports Midwest
Yes
No
No
No
No
Tampa Bay Rays
Bally Sports Sun
Yes
No
No
No
No
Texas Rangers
AT&T SportsNet Southwest and Bally Sports Southwest
Yes
Yes (AT&T SportsNet Southwest)
No
No
No
Toronto Blue Jays
SportsNet
No
No
No
No
No
Washington Nationals
MASN
Yes
No
No
No
No
Some key takeaways:
The RSNs above are typically only available to local subscribers. Refer to the individual service's details below to find out if 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.AT&T TV's $85-a-month Choice package includes 28 of the 30 RSNs for baseball -- all but the Phillies and aforementioned Blue Jays.It's slim pickings for the other four services. FuboTV offers 10 RSNs for baseball, while Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV offer only five. Sling TV doesn't offer a single RSN.YouTube TV is the only service that carries MLB Network in its base package. The others either charge more or don't carry it at all.
One other note: Fox Sports RSNs have been rebranded as Bally Sports, because the channels are no longer owned by Fox but Sinclair, which has since partnered with trik casino online group Bally's to rename them. So, Fox Sports Ohio is now called Bally Sports Ohio and so on.
If you are looking to watch your local team night in and night out, AT&T TV is your best bet. It offers by far the most RSNs of the live TV streaming services. Philadelphia and Toronto are the only to MLB cities whose RSN is not offered on AT&T TV. FuboTV is second with 10 RSNs, giving you only a one-in-three chance of getting your local RSN to watch baseball.
AT&T TV is the priciest of the five major live TV streaming services, but it's also the one with the most RSNs. Its cheapest, $70-a-month Plus package includes ESPN, Fox, FS1 and TBS. You'll need to move up to the $85-a-month Choice plan to get MLB Network and any available RSN. You can use its to see which local channels and RSNs are available in your area.
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, tips casino online,trik casino online 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. 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.
Here are MLB.TV's 2021 pricing options for the season:
Pay $130 to be able to 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.
Pay $110 to watch a single out-of-market team. If you're only interested in watching your favorite team play and don't live in its TV market, then this plan can save you a few bucks. You sacrifice, however, the ability to switch over to a potential no-hitter in progress elsewhere or any other exciting matchup or moment that does not involve your team.
Pay $25 per month to be able to 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. This is a good option if you have doubts about your team contending this year and can see your attention waning along with your team's chances by the All-Star break.
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.
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ESPN's stand-alone streaming service costs $6 a month or $60 a year and shows 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 are not exclusive to ESPN Plus and are also be available on MLB.TV.
Best options for nationally broadcast games
Aside from AT&T TV, the odds are long that a live TV streaming service carries the RSN for your local team's games, which makes the other four services better bets for watching nationally televised games. YouTube also shows a game a week for free.
FuboTV costs $65 per month and offers 10 RSNs for baseball. It also includes ESPN, Fox, FS1 and MLB Network but not TBS. Check out which .
YouTube TV costs $50 a month and offers five RSNs for baseball along with all five channels for national broadcasts. Plug in your ZIP code on its to see which local networks and RSNs are available in your area.
Hulu with Live TV costs $65 a month and carries five RSNs for baseball along with ESPN, Fox, FS1 and TBS, but not MLB Network. Click the "View all channels in your area" link at the bottom of its to see which local networks and RSNs are available where you live.
Sling Blue currently 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 a month for either the Blue or Orange plan or $15 for the combined Orange-and-Blue plan. The individual plans cost $35 a month each, and the Orange-and-Blue plan costs $50 a month. You can .
Each live TV streaming service offers a free trial, allows you to cancel anytime and tips casino online requires a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our .
For the third year, YouTube will stream some MLB games for free. For the 2021 season, 21 games will be shown as the MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube. Three more games are scheduled for May:
Cardinals and Brewers on May 13Giants and Reds on May 20Phillies and Marlins on May 27
Yankees games on Prime Video
For Yankees fans in the team's market, this season. While you don't need to live in the Bronx to stream these games, the area where they're available is limited -- New York state, Connecticut, northeast Pennsylvania, and north and central New Jersey. You'll need to be a Prime member, too.
The 21 Yankees games on Prime Video span the season. The next game is May 14 against the Orioles, and the final game is scheduled for Sept. 29 against the Blue Jays. Highlights include a July 2 game against the crosstown rival Mets and three contests -- on July 23, Aug. 17 and Sept. 24 -- against mortal enemy the Red Sox.
MLB At Bat add-on
The MLB 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 is 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 via the MLB At Bat app. It costs $20 a year (or $3 a month) and lets you listen to the home or away radio broadcasts -- baseball is the only sport I can listen to on the radio -- 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.
