Baseball fans now have another streaming option as Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday that in-market supporters of the Athletics, San Francisco Giants, and Philadelphia Phillies can purchase team-specific streaming packages through MLB.tv. This follows an announcement earlier this week regarding NBC Sports regional networks being available as an add-on through Peacock for fans in those areas.
The monthly packages for the A’s and Giants will cost $19.99, whereas Phillies fans will pay $24.99. Additionally, for $20 more per month, fans can bundle this subscription with MLB.tv’s out-of-market games. Although the price is slightly higher than the Peacock add-ons introduced earlier this week, which are priced at $17.95 for A’s and Giants fans and $24.95 for the Phillies, the Peacock service requires an existing subscription, which is an extra cost. However, the Peacock add-on provides complete access to all NBC Sports regional networks’ programming rather than just one MLB team. For example, a subscriber to the NBC Sports Bay Area add-on for Peacock will receive access to Giants and Golden State Warriors games, while those with only the MLB.tv subscription will be limited to Giants games. It’s worth noting that the MLB.tv subscription also includes pregame and postgame coverage.
This announcement offers an additional choice for fans of these MLB clubs, marking a shift from the days when a paid TV subscription was necessary to watch baseball. Now, 26 out of 30 MLB teams provide a direct-to-consumer option for in-market fans. Over this offseason, 13 MLB franchises have added such options, with the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers joining the Athletics, Giants, and Phillies in offering streaming packages for this season.
