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How to Watch MLB Games Live Without Cable in 2023

Written by John O'Connor

There are several live TV streaming options for watching MLB games in 2023, however, with the rise of “streaming exclusive” games on Apple TV+, Peacock, and YouTube, as well as Yankee’s games on Amazon-Prime, the MLB streaming landscape has gotten more complicated in recent seasons as blackouts increase.

Most MLB games air regionally

Most MLB regular season games are broadcast regionally which means that in-market MLB fans, which are fans who live in the same TV market as their favorite team, will have different streaming options than out-of-market fans, who don’t live in the same region as the baseball team they follow. In-market fans can watch their favorite MLB team on their local regional sports network, and also when they appear in a nationally televised MLB game, such as ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

How to watch MLB games out-of-market

Out-of-market fans can watch their MLB team when they appear on a national broadcast, or they have the option of subscribing to MLB.TV to follow along all season. If you live outside of your team’s viewing territory, MLB.TV is the best option.

MLB.TV is blacked out for local MLB fans

In order to protect TV contracts with RSNs, MLB.TV only shows out-of-market broadcasts. This means a Yankees fan on Long Island can’t watch the Yankees on MLB.TV, the games will be blacked out on MLB.TV in favor of the YES Network. If that same fans is transferred to Atlanta for work, they would then have the option of streaming the Yankees on MLB.TV as an out-of-market fan. Note that for 2023, the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group could lift blackout restrictions in 14 MLB markets.

For “streaming exclusive” games, like Peacock Sunday Morning Baseball, the only way to watch the game is on the streaming service that owns the rights to that game. Streaming exclusive games use popular MLB games as bait to bring new subscribers on to their platforms, often much to the chagrin of longtime fans. Although it is useful to know the basics of how MLB games are broadcast, each team has its own RSN, and TV schedules vary by market.

MLB Team Viewing Guides

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