Mariners Fans Need to Hear This One Crucial Truth About the New Broadcast Deal — At Least for Now .MH
While fans in other cities have plenty to consider when it comes to their streaming landscape, it will be business as usual for Seattle.
It has never been more confusing to watch baseball on television. Now that regional sports networks are struggling to stay afloat, MLB has steadily taken back the broadcast rights for each of its 30 teams. Still, many prime time games are spread out across several different channels, including TBS, ESPN and Apple TV. Hot off the heels of a World Series that was a huge commercial success, drawing in more viewers than MLB has seen in decades, a new three-year deal for media rights was recently struck with ESPN, NBC, and Netflix.
As expected, there are quite a few caveats as to who will be responsible for broadcasting what. For example, Netflix will air the Home Run Derby, the Field of Dreams game, and the World Baseball Classic games being held in Japan, while NBC will take over Sunday Night Baseball from ESPN. Despite all these changes, it seems that Mariners fans will get to stay the course for the most part in 2026.
Seattle baseball fans shouldn’t have to do much to keep enjoying the Mariners on television in 2026
ESPN has acquired the rights to sell MLB.tv, the subscription used to watch out-of-market games, from the league itself. When it comes to the Mariners, they’ll be one of six teams whose in-market rights will be managed by ESPN. However, there are no plans for ESPN to actually handle the streaming for these six teams. Instead, the Mariners will offer a local package for next season similar to the direct-to-consumer service ROOT Sports had in 2025.
Things could change in 2027 as more and more teams begin to turn over their broadcast rights to MLB but for now, fans can still expect to be able to watch their favorite team on television without a cable subscription.
Another side effect to consider is how all of this will impact the team’s budget. Broadcasting revenue can often be a major boon to a team’s financial situation. For example, the Dodgers recently became the first MLB team to hit $1 billion in revenue, largely thanks to the money they make from their television deal. Seattle’s front office initially seemed bullish on increasing spending but a notable decrease in streaming revenue could create an uphill battle for those plans.
Along with the potential labor dispute in 2027, there’s a long list of financial uncertainties for the Mariners that could affect the way they spend in the short-term. They’ve already prioritized deferred money as seen in Josh Naylor’s new $92.5 million contract and if the new media deal doesn’t work out in their favor, we could see Seattle’s front office return to their frugal ways.
