Each of Major League Baseball's 30 teams has 162 games scheduled for the 2019 season. That's some 2,400 (give or take) games across the American and National leagues. Today, it was announced that YouTube and YouTube TV will exclusively stream 13 of those games .
Here's what you need to know:
- The YouTube stream will be free. No subscriptions required.
- The 13 games will come after the All Star break — ie in the second half of the season.
- There will be pregame and postgame shows.
- "Popular YouTube creators" will play some sort of role in the broadcast.
Here are the first three games you'll be able to watch for free on YouTube on the MLB channel :
- July 18: L.A. Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies, 12:30 p.m.
- July 23: Cleveland Indians at Toronto Blue Jays, 7 p.m.
- July 29: Detroit Tigers at L.A. Angeles, 10 p.m.
And, well, that's it. This isn't anywhere near Earth-shaking news, of course. That's about one-half of 1 percent of all the games on the schedule. And the prospect of Logan Paul hamming it up during the seventh-inning stretch is downright insane. Or Pat and Jen doing whatever it is they do atop America's National Pastime. (It likely won't be either of those Circles of Hell, of course. Probably.)
So, yeah. You'll be able to watch a handful of MLB games exclusively on YouTube or YouTube TV. (Here's how to watch everywhere else .)
YouTube TV, if you're looking at getting on board, costs $50 a month. There are no additional plans or options — but there are a number of add-ons available, like EPIX, Shudder, Fox Soccer Network and more. (Notably missing, however, is HBO.)
