The 2023 MLB Season is underway, and you don’t need cable to watch Kansas City Royals games. This article will explain how you can stream the next Royals game and every Kansas City Royals game this season, no matter where you live.
Watch Every Royals Game This Season
Below explains how to watch Royals games this season based on where you live.
- Kansas City Royals TV Market: throughout Missouri, Kansas, eastern Nebraska, and Iowa.
- Best Solution when inside their TV Market: Watch on Bally Sports Kansas City through the DIRECTV STREAM streaming service (sign up online)
- Best Solution when living Outside the Royals TV Market: Watch nearly all Royals games on MLB.TV.
What Channel Are The Royals On
You can watch the Kansas City Royals depending on whether or not you live inside the Kansas City Royals TV market, which extends throughout Missouri, Kansas, eastern Nebraska, and Iowa.
Watching Royals Games In Market
If you live in the Royals TV market, you can watch the Royals on Bally Sports Kansas City, the Royals regional sports network. If you live in the Royals broadcast areas, you can watch their regional sports network without cable on the following streaming services.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live streaming service that carries Bally Sports Kansas City for those living in their broadcast region. However, you have to subscribe to their “Choice” package for $108.99 per month. You can sign up online. They don’t force you into a contract, and you can cancel at any time. DIRECTV STREAM also carries Fox, ESPN, MLB Network, TBS, and FS1, which are all the networks that air nationally televised MLB games.
The service also includes a cloud DVR service and allows you to simultaneously stream to an unlimited number of devices in the home, and up to 3 outside the home. DIRECTV STREAM is supported on Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, iOS, Android, Roku, and more. See our review of DIRECTV STREAM for more details on this streaming service.
FuboTV
fuboTV is a live streaming service that carries Bally Sports Kansas City for those living in their broadcast region. They offer a 1-week free trial, which you can cancel within the trial period and not be charged. It’s also cheaper than DIRECTV STREAM at $74.99 per month. However, fuboTV subscribers in this area will be subject to a mandatory regional sports fee between $10.99 and $13.99 per month, depending on how many RSNs are in your area. Also note, fuboTV does not carry TBS. A network that carries the occasional nationally televised game. You can cancel at any time. The service supports iOS, Android, Fire TV, Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, and more. The price includes a cloud DVR and the ability to stream on 3 devices at once. (see our review of FuboTV)
Bally Sports+
Bally Sports has a direct-to-customer streaming service for a few MLB teams. Luckily, the Kansas City Royals are one of those teams. You can subscribe to Bally Sports+ at BallySportsPlus.com for $189.99 annually or $19.99 each month and live stream Kansas City Royals games airing on Bally Sports Kansas City through the Bally Sports app. To subscribe, you must live in the Kansas City Royals TV market. You are most likely outside the intended TV market if you do not see Bally Sports+ available on BallySportsPlus.com or within the Bally Sports app. There are plans to add NHL and NBA Teams next season. You won’t have access to all the channels you get with DIRECTV STREAM, but it’s a cheaper way to watch Bally Sports Kansas City.
Watching Royals Games Outside their TV Market
If you don’t live in the Royals TV market, you can watch the Royals through the MLB.TV streaming. With MLB.TV you can watch every game, for every team, all season long. With MLB.TV, you can watch Royals games on Roku, Apple TV, Smart Devices, and more. You can watch Royals games live or on-demand. Here is a list of MLB.TV features:
- Chose to watch both the home and away broadcast.
- Live Game DVR Controls
- Full Game Archives
- Customized Fantasy Player Tracker
- Clickable line scores
- A Pitch by Pitch Widget, that tracks speed, location, and pitch type
MLB.TV costs $129.99 for the year to have access to every game for every team. The “all-teams plan” has a free trial and provides a monthly pricing option. You can also opt to watch Royals games through the MLB.TV single-team plan for $109.99 for the year. You can check out their subscription packages at MLB.TV.
Please note that MLB.TV does have blackout rules for games where a team is playing in the market you reside. For example, if the Royals are playing the Nationals and you live in the DC area, that game will be blacked out on MLB.TV. You can check your zip code on MLB TV’s website to see which team’s games are under a blackout in your area. Nationally televised games will also be blacked out. The list below provides a general description of whether a game is going to be under a blackout:
- Home and Away games of the designated team if you live within their blackout territory
- Games that broadcast nationally such as the ESPN Sunday game or Fox Saturday game
- Play in games (Playoff tie-breakers)
- Post Season Games, but there is a way around it
Pro Tip: Try This Blackout Workaround to watch the games you want to watch and get around the black-out.
Watching Nationally Televised Royals Games
Nationally televised MLB games air on Fox, TBS, Peacock, Apple TV+, ESPN, MLB Network, and FS1. A handful of Royals games will air nationally this season on one or more of those networks. You can check MLB’s website for the MLB’s national TV schedule. You can watch nationally televised games using MLB.TV with this blackout workaround. You can also watch nationally televised games using one of the streaming services listed below.
DIRECTV STREAM
Through the DIRECTV STREAM “Choice” package for $108.99 per month, you can watch nationally televised MLB games on Fox, ESPN, MLB Network, TBS, and FS1. You can sign up online, and you can cancel at any time. The service also includes a cloud DVR service and allows you to simultaneously stream to an unlimited number of devices in the home, and up to 3 outside the home. DIRECTV STREAM is supported on Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, iOS, Android, Roku, and more. See our review of DIRECTV STREAM for more details on this streaming service.
fuboTV
FuboTV carries the local Fox channel in some parts of the country along with MLB Network, ESPN and FS1 for watching nationally televised games.
They offer a fuboTV subscription. After the trial, its basic package costs $74.99. The FuboTV app is available on major platforms, including Apple TV, AndroidTV, Roku, and Amazon FireTV. Check out our review of FuboTV for more details.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV cost $72.99/month per month and includes a DVR. YouTube TV carries the local Fox channel in most parts of the country. They also provide access to ESPN, TBS, and FS1 for watching nationally televised games.
YouTube TV supports Roku, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and more. Please read our review of YouTube TV for more details.
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu carries the local Fox channel in most parts of the country, along with ESPN and FS1 for watching nationally televised games.
Hulu Live TV will cost you $76.99 per month. However, that includes access to Hulu’s on-demand streaming library, a cloud DVR, and more. To see what channels are available through Hulu Live TV in your area, check out the tool: Channels Available by Zip Code
Hulu is supported on Roku, Fire TV Devices, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and more. For more information on this service, please check out Hulu Live TV review.
Sling TV
Sling carries, carries ESPN, MLB Network, TBS, and FS1 for watching nationally televised games. Sling TV also carries the local FOX channel in the following markets: New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, DC, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Gainesville, Austin, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, and Seattle
You can sign up and see if this solution will work for you.
Sling TV is supported on Windows and Mac PCs and laptops, Android and iOS devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Nexus player, Xbox One, 4th Generation Apple TV, Chromecast, and more.
The service also includes a cloud DVR along with other great features. For details on Slings service offerings and the difference between them, check out my Sling TV review.
