MLB.TV is a baseball fan’s dream
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Have you ever wanted to watch a baseball game but didn’t get the game on television because it wasn’t in your local area? I haven’t had that problem for a few years now and have watched more baseball games than I can count. This isn’t an advertisement or ploy to get people to sign up, but it is an honest review of one of the best baseball services available to fans.
MLB.TV is a service that allows you to watch every out-of-market game during the regular season, spring training games, and even post season games. There are extras such as classic games you can watch on-demand, but the real value is being able to watch all 162 games for all 30 Major League teams. That is almost impossible in reality but the thought is mind blowing.
This service has kept me up late many nights as I would watch the east coast games and then stay up to watch the west coast games as they were starting later. Of course there are few west coast games that are aired on the east coast because of the time difference, but that doesn’t matter when every game is streamed live.
Even players use the service – Craig Kimbrel says that he uses it to review game film and look at opponents, as well as to watch other teams who are playing on the other side of the country.
Jason Aldean is a featured celebrity of the service, as he is also playing concerts this summer at various Major League ballparks.
The amount of information you can get from MLB.TV is unreal. There are live box scores and stats for every game, including pitch trackers. Home and away video and radio feeds give plenty of options for listening/watching. Every game is available on-demand after it is over. You can search for clips by teams, players, outcomes of a play, highlights, and so much more.
The only downfall is that you cannot watch local games on the service. Obviously a local game is broadcast on television, but it would be much easier to just watch the broadcast on whatever device you are using. Speaking of devices, you can be signed in to multiple devices at one time to really pump up the output of games you can watch at once. With a PIP of four games on your computer, tablet, and smartphone, you could be watching 12 games at one time!
This totally sounds like a scheme to get you to buy MLB.TV, but it really is one of the best values you can buy as a baseball fan. The premium service is only $130 for the year, and if you use it as much as I do, that is a bargain. Keep it in mind the next time you are up late and hate having to watch the Sports Center bottom line ticker for updates on the team you follow but live nowhere close to.