The top question that comes around this time of the year is, “Where will I be able to watch Cleveland Guardians?” Well, this season, it’s really very simple and mostly very easy if you’re streaming their games. As of Thursday afternoon there is a number of cable, satellite and other streaming partners who will begin broadcasts with Thursday’s Opening Day game against the Kansas City Royals.
We’ll have the latest updates on where things stands with Guardians games being on TV, as well as explain the streaming options. Thursday’s additions are here.
A short video, narrated by Bob Costas, welcomes Guardians fans to the new season on the new CLEGuarians.TV.
Some local viewers are reporting mixed results with respect to channel access. On Spectrum, the new Guardians channel is showing as locked as some viewers are able to get pregame programming by keying in the channel number.
Is it possible the stations are on tiers and an upgrade to service is necessary? A half-hour from first pitch, and fans don’t know.
More cable and television providers came aboard to carry Cleveland Guardians games Thursday morning, it was announced.
The following services will have the team’s game beginning with Thursday’s opener against the Kansas City Royals:
- AT&T U-verse (Channel 736 or 1736)
- COX (Channel 80)
- DIRECTV Satellite and Streaming (Channel 662)
- FuboTV
Spectrum cable has reached an agreement with Major League Baseball to carry Cleveland Guardians baseball games with the start of tomorrow’s baseball season temporarily. The “temporary” designation likely means that details need to be finalized.
The Guardians and several other teams’ games will be produced by Major League Baseball this season, a move necessitated by a parting of ways with the Diamond Sports Group after the owner of Bally Sports went through protracted bankruptcy proceedings leading to a reorganization and a shedding of some sports team’s telecasts.
“We have agreed to carry the Guardians channel on a temporary basis while we finalize a longer-term agreement with Major League Baseball,” a Spectrum spokesperson said.
The Cleveland Guardians channels on Spectrum:
Most of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and most of Kentucky: 306, 1306
The Guardians, last year’s American Central Division champions, will play the Kansas City Royals to open the season at 4:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium with Tanner Bibbee getting the Opening Day nod for the Guardians and Cole Ragans starting for the Royals.
The Guardians have come to an agreement with MCTV in Stark County. The Massillon-based cable provider announced an agreement this afternoon to show the team’s games in 2025 and 2026 via Guardians TV.
“We are thrilled to provide our customers with the opportunity to watch the Cleveland Guardians through MCTV,” said Katherine Gessner, president of MCTV, in a prepared statement. “Many of our customers have anxiously been waiting for this news.”
Click here to read more about the deal.
Barring appearances on a national television platform such as Fox, ESPN, Apple TV+ and Roku, where the Guardians will appear nine times with the potential for games to be flexed, the remaining games will be produced by the league for pay television and streaming customers with no blackouts.
“Our new TV partnership with Major League Baseball expands our ability to put Guardians games in nearly 5 million fans’ homes,” said Alex King, Guardians executive vice-president, marketing & brand strategy. “The Guardians are committed to making our games significantly more accessible to watch on TV. In addition to extending agreements with traditional cable providers, we’ve introduced the CLEGuardians.TV presented by Progressive streaming service to all fans in our TV viewing area.”
That is to be determined. With the opener Thursday in Kansas City against the Royals, negotiations for pay-TV distribution with MLB are coming down to the wire.
“We expect MLB will reach carriage agreements with those partners consistent with where fans could find Guardians games in 2024,” a team spokesman said in a statement. “We appreciate your patience as we continue to finalize these agreements. … As soon as we have finalized agreements, we will announce via email and social channels all of our 2025 viewing options.”
While there has been mention of MLB.TV in this discourse, the league itself has assumed production responsibilities from the Diamond Sports Group, which emerged from bankruptcy last year but has jettisoned the rights for the team. They also produce games for the Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres.
MLB will offer a streaming option for fans via CLEGuardians.TV for $99.99 a season or $19.99 per month — again with no blackouts within the team’s home territory. That approximate area includes Toledo to the west, Erie to the east and south of Columbus.
This story has been updated.
This story will be updated.
