Fans Will Need Two Subscriptions to Watch Out-of-Market MLB Games on ESPN

Last November, ESPN and Major League Baseball reached a new three-year agreement that included the rights to MLB.tv.

The television deal came months after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote a blistering memo to team owners announcing that the league was ending its four-decade partnership with the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

Photo: The Mirror

After a very public breakup, the two sides restarted negotiations and eventually came to a deal that will allow ESPN to carry MLB.tv and control the rights to all out-of-market games.

As fans begin to look ahead to the upcoming baseball season, there has been understandable interest in how MLB.tv will be integrated into ESPN.

MLB

Now, we have our answer.

Fans Will Need Two Subscriptions 

According to a new report from Awful Announcing, in order to access out-of-market MLB games, new users will have to subscribe to both MLB.tv and ESPN Unlimited.

Essentially, fans will have to pay $150 to MLB and then $30 for ESPN Unlimited.

Photo: ESPN

There are, however, some exceptions.

MLB.tv subscribers who are simply renewing their account for another season will not need to pay the $30 for ESPN Unlimited to access their games.

Photo: ESPN

Additionally, if you have ESPN Unlimited through your cable provider, you will not need to pay the extra $30.

More Consumer Confusion

Nevertheless, since the launch of ESPN’s new streaming service, there has been massive confusion about what is included with your subscription.

Frequently, fans have found that they have to essentially pay twice for premium content.

As a new year of sports begins to unfold, this confusion will likely only intensify. Hopefully, ESPN figures out a standard practice and a way to market its product more clearly before more fans find themselves out in the cold.