MLB 2023: HOW TO WATCH MLB GAMES – TV , Streaming , DirecTV

Little over two months before Opening Day, TBS announced their schedule of national broadcast games for the first half of the MLB 2023 season.

On April 4, the 2022 American League MVP Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees will play against the reigning National League champion Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium.

There are 13 games in the first half of the schedule, including a doubleheader on June 20 between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves and an interleague game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels.

MLB 2023: HOW TO WATCH MLB GAMES – TV , Streaming , DirecTV

Major League Baseball returns on March 30, 2023, and nationally televised games will air on FOX, FS1, TBS, ESPN, and MLB Network. But you’ll also need access to your regional sports network (RSN) to catch most of your local team’s games.

We recommend DIRECTV as the best overall TV provider for watching the 2023 MLB season. Its CHOICE™ plan and above gives you every primary MLB channel with a wide selection of RSNs, plus you can add MLB EXTRA INNINGS® for out-of-market game access. You’ll get stuck with a two-year contract featuring a price increase after 12 months, but it’s still the best route for true-blue hardball fans.

There are five channels you’ll need to watch nationally televised MLB games. These same channels will also broadcast the entire MLB Postseason.

  • FOX
  • FS1
  • TBS
  • ESPN/ABC
  • MLB Network

MLB Network Strike Zone

MLB Network Strike Zone is another MLB station to keep an eye on. The supplementary channel only airs on Tuesday and Friday nights and is often included in higher-tier TV packages. The goal of the channel is to focus on any significant moment from throughout the league as it develops in real time because those are the evenings when many games are taking place simultaneously.

MLB Network Strike Zone has the advantage of being unencumbered by regional broadcasting limitations. But by putting your local sports network in your TV bundle, you may totally escape local blocks.

Regional Sports Network

Regional sports networks carry MLB games when they are not exclusively broadcast on national channels or streamed on Apple TV+ and Peacock. Each team has a separate RSN that transmits to an area designated by the MLB.

You can enter your zip code into DIRECTV’s local RSN lookup tool to see which RSNs are available in your area and which teams are covered by those RSNs. It’s a good tool to use, and you don’t need to be a DIRECTV customer to use it.

If you live within your favourite team’s broadcast territory, you’ll need access to that team’s RSN to watch a majority of their regular-season games. If you reside outside that region, you’ll need an out-of-market TV alternative like MLB EXTRA INNINGS (for cable and satellite users) or MLB.TV (for streaming users).

Major sporting occasions like the World Series and the MLB All-Star Game are fortunately quite accessible. The following section lists significant MLB events along with the related channels.

DIRECTV

The greatest TV package for ardent baseball lovers is DIRECTV’s CHOICE plan ($84.99 per month*) with MLB EXTRA INNINGS ($21.66 per month extra for up to six months**). With this package, you’ll have access to every MLB game, with all 30 clubs playing 162 games each season. We’ll explain how.

Every national MLB station plus, most likely, your local RSN are included in the CHOICE package. (We say most likely because, unfortunately, Phillies lovers, NBC Sports Philly is still not accessible on DIRECTV.) All out-of-market games are included if you upgrade your package to include MLB EXTRA INNINGS. You and I will enjoy comprehensive MLB coverage.

Furthermore included in the MLB EXTRA INNINGS package are MLB Network Strike Zone and MLB Game Mix Channel, allowing you to follow all the action while many games are taking place at once. Your MLB EXTRA INNINGS membership also includes MLB.TV and the MLB At Bat app.

Given all that, it can be a bit daunting to combine CHOICE and MLB EXTRA INNINGS for $106.65 per month during the MLB regular season, especially since DIRECTV locks you into a two-year commitment.

But, for devoted fans, the fee is acceptable given the quantity of games they would get access to. After all, there are 2,430 games in the MLB regular season.

Sling TV

The best deal for MLB casual fans is Sling TV. You can watch every MLB game that is nationally aired for less per month than DIRECTV, depending on the plan you select.

RSNs and out-of-market gaming add-ons are absent from Sling TV, but it does provide flexible options without a commitment. You may sign up for the Sling TV package of your choice and cancel it after the MLB season is complete if you only want a simple slice of the season or simply want to watch the MLB Playoffs.

Choose Sling TV’s Orange & Blue package ($55 per month) with the Sports Extra add-on ($15 per month) if you want access to every national MLB channel. This will get you FOX (in select markets), FS1, TBS, ESPN, MLB Network, and MLB Network Strike Zone. You’ll pay $70.00 a month total, which is better than DIRECTV’s CHOICE plan ($84.99 a month), and you won’t be locked into a two-year contract.

MLB.TV

The MLB.TV All Teams package ($139.99 per year) is the finest solo MLB streaming choice simply because it offers the most MLB games. You won’t be able to watch your local team play in real time because it is an out-of-market streaming service. Yet it takes 90 minutes for their games to be accessible on MLB.TV.

If you want to follow the league as a whole or if you reside outside of the broadcast area for your favourite club, MLB.TV is primarily worth the cost.

MLB.TV offers a number of useful features, such as live game DVR controls, away and home TV and radio broadcast feeds, and hundreds of highlights, vintage games, and documentaries that are available on demand. Also, your membership includes MLB Audio, which  gives you audio access to every game regardless of blackouts.

Over-the-air (OTA) HD TV antenna

A high-quality over-the-air (OTA) digital antenna can be purchased once for around $20 to $60. You will be able to watch every MLB game that airs on the FOX and ABC affiliate networks in your area with it. It covers significant occasions like the MLB All-Star Game, certain contests from the MLB Postseason, and the complete World Series.

Since you won’t need a membership to watch MLB on FOX after the initial cost of the antenna, we classify this viewing option as the least expensive. Although while you’ll only get to see 35 MLB games during the regular season, it’s still a home run for baseball enthusiasts on a tight budget.

One of our preferred antennas is the Mohu Leaf 50 ($47.99 on Amazon) because  it has a 60-mile range and 4K capabilities. The latter is important if you already have a 4K TV because FOX is dabbling in 4K HDR broadcasts more often this year.

MLB 2023 Schedule

Here is the full schedule for MLB on TBS from April through June:

  • April 4: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees
  • April 11: San Diego Padres at New York Mets
  • April 18: New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers (10 p.m. ET)
  • May 2: Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox
  • May 9: Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves
  • May 16: Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros (8 p.m. ET)
  • May 23: Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves
  • May 30: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets
  • June 6: New York Mets at Atlanta Braves
  • June 13: New York Yankees at New York Mets
  • June 20: Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies (6:30 p.m. ET)
  • June 20: Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels (10 p.m. ET)
  • June 27: Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals (7:30 p.m. ET)

MLB 2023 Key Events

Event Start date Channels
MLB Spring Training February 24, 2023 MLB Network, RSNs
2023 World Baseball Classic March 8, 2023 FOX, FS1, FS2, MLB Network
2023 MLB Draft July 7, 2023 ESPN, MLB Network
2023 MLB All-Star Game July 11, 2023 FOX
MLB Little League Classic August 23, 2023 ESPN
MLB Playoffs October 2023 FOX, FS1, TBS, ESPN/ABC, MLB Network
World Series October/November 2023 FOX

 

 

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