Four MLB Teams Drop Television Partnership With Bally Sports for 2025 Season
Four additional MLB teams will no longer be broadcast on the Sinclair-owned Bally Sports regional networks in the 2025 season and beyond.
MLB announced Tuesday that the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins will have their local games produced and distributed by the league next season, which will provide more opportunities for fans to watch or stream their favorite teams.
Additionally, the Texas Rangers announced they will no longer partner with Diamond Sports Group in 2025 and will explore other options for the future of their television broadcast.
In 2024, MLB handled the broadcasts for three teams: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres. All three teams offered direct-to-consumer streaming options as well as negotiated cable and satellite distribution. The Padres, for example, offered packages that cost either $19.99 per month or $99.99 for the entire season to stream local games without dealing with blackouts.
The league estimated that Guardians games will be available to reach 4.86 million households—up from 1.45 million last year—and the Twins will be able to reach 4.40 million homes—an increase of 307% from 1.08 million in 2024.
"With the media landscape continuing to evolve, Major League Baseball is committed to serving our fans by ensuring they can see their favorite clubs, removing blackouts where we can, and ultimately growing the reach of our games," Noah Garden, MLB's deputy commissioner of business and media, said in a statement. "We are proud to bring Guardians, Brewers and Twins games to their passionate fan bases with the same high-quality production that we have demonstrated in Arizona, Colorado and San Diego."
The Bally Sports regional networks carried 12 MLB teams in 2024. Diamond Sports Group announced last week that it plans to shed contracts for 11 teams and keep its contract for the Atlanta Braves.