All this to get blacked out against Cleveland, Cincinnati, AND Pittsburgh(!) as a Tigers fan in Columbus.

In Oklahoma, I got blacked out of 4 teams, none of which were within 5 hours drive of me and none of their regional TV networks were available in my cable packages

It’s like they hate fans

Like I said: maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe they're not going to make us double dip. But The Athletic story specifically says "fans are likely to need an ESPN direct-to-consumer subscription to go along with MLB.TV." I do not read that as "baseball games now included on ESPN's streaming service."

That sure makes it sound like the Athletic doesn't have any idea what the pricing will be. It may end up more expensive, but I'm more than willing to bet the numbers you're suggesting are incorrect. I'm willing to bet the cost of the service is a tiered offering on ESPN+.

Not unlike how the MLS package is a tiered offering on AppleTV+. So yes, the base ESPN subscription, plus the MLB subscription. But I sincerely doubt it will be the cost of the current MLB dot TV plus the current cost of ESPN+.

And even if it is -- even if all you need is the ESPN streaming service -- we'll be going from a service that now costs $149.99 a year to one that costs $360 a year, no?

My immediate fear when I heard that ESPN was buying it, I won't panic until we have actual pricing but....yeah

ESPN+ costs 11.99/month. I think THAT is the ESPN service you'll have to subscribe to. Not the ESPN direct to consumer service.

If that's the case than The Athletic is wrong, but at present they are reporting that it's the direct-to-consumer service.

I would just personally be surprised if that’s the case. Like I get ESPN thru DirecTV stream. And I also subscribe to ESPN+ already. I’m not going to be able to get MLB’s package without also buying ESPN DTC from ESPN? No chance of that IMO. I don’t think the Athletic’s reporting feels concrete.

Seems like MLB is trying to reach people who will subscribe to ESPN DTC but not MLBtv, while hoping core fans will just suck it up. Unless subscribers will have to pay an add on fee for MLB. In that case, MLB is going to lose viewers in exchange for up front cash. Not a good way to grow the game.

My hope is MLBtv is included in ESPN DTC ($30/m) but there will still be an option for MLBtv only ($149.99). Maybe they do it for a year, but a price increase is definitely coming.

And if the UI is anything like ESPN+, blech. Vastly prefer MLB TV.

I guess $180 if it's just for the 6 months of the regular season (or $210 to include spring training), but yeah more details will be the key

*I* will be going to $0.

My hope, but it's a small one is that they either leave it as a separate thing. No way in hell I'm paying $30/month or more just to watch Padre games. I really don't care about anything else they offer. Though if they made a ESPNSD channel that hosted G league, NLL, & NWSL, i could be talked into it

I've got a feeling T-MOBILE will no longer be giving their subscribers MLB TV for free now that ESPN in the mix.

I don't understand why MLB did this. Controlling the long term money here is way more profitable. Plus, they really don't want us to watch....

It may be similar to what ESPN did with the NHL version of the same service, where it is bundled into the single subscription fee. I wouldn’t bet on that though, and I am positive Manfred doesn’t care at all beyond making sure the check clears.

Imagine watching a Royals/White Sox matchup, followed by a "Thor: The Dark World", and finishing it off with season 37 of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" all on one app. Truly a Paradise...Lost.

Damn, KC out here catching strays 😂

Switch to T-Mobile, mlb tv is free

That deal is supposed to run through the 2028 season, but I am not sure how this agreement impacts that. At a minimum, I assume it won't be extended past that.

Hey 3 more seasons of mlb tv is 3 more I don’t have to pay for

Hopefully 🤞

Not for long

Ain't happening

“Baseball is dying” MLB: Cool, how can we expedite it?

and what about international subscribers, especially in places where there is no ESPN?

They’re really working overtime to make the dying sport even less accessible

Also they need to stop referring to it as "direct to consumer" because it is pretty clearly not a DTC version of ESPN but rather a separate streaming service from the one ESPN already offers (ESPN+)

There is zero chance Manfred likes baseball.

I bet season ticket holders will no longer get mlb.tv for free.

Baseball is now for the 1%

I get mlb tv free through my phone for now. Wonder if that’ll change.

Yeah, I'm already assuming this is the last year to get it through T-Mobile. Sucks.

I think that contract runs through 2028