Local Cleveland Guardians fans will be able to watch the team on television without a subscription to its streaming service after all. Hours before their Opening Day matchup against the Kansas City Royals, the reigning American League Central Division champions announced a deal to air their games on local broadcast television. Guardians games will be accessible in the local market through most cable providers, including:
- AT&T U-verse: Channel 736 or 1736
- Cox: Channel 80
- DIRECTV Channel 662
- Spectrum: Most of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky – Channel 306 or 1306 (National Channel 447)
- Powell, OH – Channel 539 or 1538
- Ashland, Kentucky and Ironton, Ohio – Channel 151 or 1151
- Westfield, New York – Channel 305
- Fubo: Available
As noted by The Athletic’s Zack Meisel, the Guardians will also be available on some smaller cable providers. Fans can check where the team is accessible here. However, notably, the Guardians will not be available on several streaming platforms, including YouTube TV, Hulu Live, and Sling TV.
The 2025 season is significant as it marks the first year in which MLB will serve as the Guardians’ media rightsholder, following the expiration of the previous deal with Diamond Sports Group (now known as Mainstream Sports Group). Before Thursday morning, Guardians games were slated to be available solely via the team’s streaming service, CLEGuardians.TV, at a cost of $99 for the entire season. Suffice it to say, the Guardians’ local TV negotiations came down to the wire. It appears convenient that the team waited until the last minute to announce the availability of games outside of their subscription service. Nevertheless, it is now clear that Guardians games will be available to fans locally, both behind a paywall and freely.
