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MLB made a mess of baseball streaming. Here’s help.
Jared Newman | 
In 2026, figuring out how to watch baseball has gotten more confusing than ever.
MLB teams are switching channels on cable and satellite TV as regional sports networks collapse, while new companies are carving up the rights for games on national television. New streaming services are also coming online for watching in-market games without blackouts, even as ESPN has introduced more complications for watching out-of-market games on MLB.TV.
I can’t make the situation any simpler, but I can at least lay out the options in a way that makes sense. Here’s how to navigate the baseball streaming options as opening day approaches.
Weekly rewind
Dish local channel blackouts: Dish Network customers have lost access to 226 local stations due to a carriage dispute with Gray Media. The list of affected stations includes local ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and Telemundo affiliates in 113 markets.
Dish says Gray Media is demanding “fee hikes that are disconnected from the reality of declining viewership and the availability of free and low-cost streaming alternatives.” Gray says Dish’s own demands are “unprecedented in the several decade history of the pay-TV industry,” but doesn’t say what those demands are.
Either way, customers are stuck figuring out whether to use an antenna, switch to another streaming bundle, or pick up individual services like Peacock and Paramount+ until this blows over.
Philo’s cheaper plan: Philo won’t make everyone pay for extra streaming services after all. The sports-free live TV streamer is now offering a $25 per month “Essential” plan that includes its core channel lineup, but does include access to AMC+, Discovery+, and HBO Max. The “Bundle+” plan that includes those streaming services still costs $33 per month.
HDHomeRun’s free DVR: SiliconDust’s HDHomeRun networked tuners now offer basic DVR capabilities without a subscription, letting you record individual airings for free. A $35 per year subscription is still required for series recordings and for 14 days of guide data (instead of three).
HDHomeRun is a way to have a single antenna feed multiple televisions at home. You plug an antenna into the box, and then plug the box into an ethernet port your Wi-Fi router, at which point you can then use HDHomeRun’s free apps to watch over-the-air channels on phones, computers, and connected TV devices. Plugging a hard drive into HDHomeRun’s USB port enables DVR as well.
I find HDHomeRun’s interface a bit crude compared to other solutions like Tablo and Channels DVR, but the setup is simple, the cost is low, and basic recording for free is a nice bonus.
More catch-up
- Get ready for unskippable 30-second ads on YouTube’s television apps.
- Roku adds a movie and TV trivia game to its home screen, and unfortunately it’s called “Roklue.”
- New Vizio TVs will require a Walmart account for smart TV setup. (Walmart bought Vizio in 2024.)
- Hallmark will shut down its “TV Everywhere” apps, which allowed cable customers to access the channel on streaming devices, on March 31.
- Disney+ does its best TikTok impression with “Verts”
- The Streamable got the full channel lists for YouTube TV’s genre packs. (They’re still not available in my area. How about you?)
Save more money
If you’re trying to watch March Madness without a pay TV package next week, you may be eligible for two months of Paramount+ Premium for $1 per month with promo code BG2L7M if you’re a former subscriber. That’ll get you any games that air on CBS.
HBO Max’s ad-free plan will carry the games on TNT/TBS/TruTV, but I don’t have any deals for that. In the past I’ve found that you can exploit the free three-hour preview in the March Madness Live app by mixing and matching different devices, and you could mix in Sling’s $5 Day Passes if you only plan to watch a game or two.
Other notable deals:
- Disney+ and Hulu bundle: Still $5 per month for three months (with ads). Sign up via Hulu or Disney+. New and returning subscribers only.
- DirecTV streaming: $35 off the first month with Choice or Ultimate plans. (Look for the “w/ req’d fees” fine print to see what it’ll actually cost you.)
- MLB.TV: T-Mobile customers get a year for free. Must redeem between March 24 and March 30.
For a full list of available deals, check out this page on my website.
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Thanks for reading!
That’s all for now. Catch you next week.
– Jared