MLB.TV to waive its local blackout rule for Giants, A's, and Phillies

[Auggie]

San Francisco Chronicle / 3-20-2025

The latest streaming service to pick up NBC Sports’ regional Giants and A’s broadcasts is none other than MLB, which is waiving its long-established blackout rules at the same time.

The league announced Wednesday morning that Giants, A’s and Phillies games via NBC Sports regional sports networks will be available on MLB.TV this season, complete with pre- and postgame shows. Each package is available for $19.99 per month, and can be bundled with MLB.TV’s entire package of out-of-market games for $39.99 a month.

Previously, those with the MLB.TV service could not watch their home teams play while in their home areas because the blackout rules were put in place to protect the RSNs’ advertising revenue. The collapse of several RSNs led to MLB briefly taking over some failed outlets and to reevaluate the RSN business model as a whole as viewers moved from traditional cable packages to streaming.

According to MLB, 26 of 30 teams now have direct-to-consumer streaming options that eliminate local blackouts.

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$20 a month is a pretty good deal -- less than a dollar a game. Okay, not as good as the old days when games were televised on public broadcast channels for FREE, but you get the idea.

I might just try it out.