SAN DIEGO — The Padres on Tuesday announced new ways to watch the team’s games starting Wednesday after Bally Sports San Diego’s parent company, Diamond Sports, missed a rights fees payment and let the grace period expire.
The decision prompted Major League Baseball to take over broadcasting rights, offering a direct-to-consumer streaming option that enables lifting blackouts for Padres games previously distributed on Bally Sports San Diego, Padres Vice President of Communications Craig Hughner said in a news release Tuesday.
On May 31, viewers will be able to watch Padres games on the following television channels:
- DirecTV (now channel 694-3)
- AT&T U-Verse (now channel 781)
- Cox (now Yurview channel 4)
- Spectrum (now channel 305)
Those who want to stream the game digitally can do so with:
- MLB.TV single Team Padres subscription available for $19.99 per month or $74.99 for the rest of the season;
- Padres games can be streamed for free through Sunday, June 4 on MLB.TV;
- You can also start a free seven-day MLB.TV trial.
“The new arrangement, which gives fans the option to watch on television or stream digitally, expands the reach of Padres games from approximately 1.130 million homes to approximately 3.264 million homes in the Padres home television territory. The increase of 2.131 million homes marks a +189% jump in reach,” Hughner said.
All 2023 regular season Padres games can be watched both LIVE and on-demand through an MLB.TV Single Team Padres subscription, the team said.
Padres CEO Erik Greupner says the organization has “been preparing for this groundbreaking moment.”
“The Padres are excited to be the first team to partner with Major League Baseball to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option through MLB.TV without blackouts while preserving our in-market distribution through traditional cable and satellite television providers. Our fans will now have unprecedented access to Padres games through both digital and traditional platforms throughout San Diego and beyond,” Greupner said.
Don Orsillo, Mark Grant, and Bob Scanlan will continue to serve as the Padres primary TV broadcasters, according to the team. Jesse Agler and Tony Gwynn Jr. with 97.3 The Fan will remain in place as well.