Thursday marks opening day for the Kansas City Royals, and with it, fans may notice some changes in how they can watch Royals games at home.
You may have heard that the parent company of Bally Sports, which broadcasts Royals games regionally, recently filed for bankruptcy.
For now, team officials say nearly all of the team’s games for 2023 are still set to be broadcast on Bally Sports.
Fans can catch 158 of the team’s 162 games on Bally Sports, with the other four on nationally televised outlets.
Here are your options for catching the Royals on TV or streaming this season.
If you don’t have traditional cable
Unfortunately, many big streamers, including SlingTV, Hulu and YouTube TV, still do not carry Bally Sports, so you won’t be able to watch the Royals on those apps.
Your options beyond that aren’t necessarily cheap.
A new streaming option is available this year through FuboTV, which added Bally Sports KC this year to its “Pro” package that costs $74.99 a month.
DirectTV Stream also offers Bally Sports KC on its “choice” package, which costs $99.99 a month.
For fans who only want to watch Royal games, Bally Sports+ may be the most cost-effective option: it runs $19.99 a month and does not require a cable subscription. Games can be viewed on the Bally Sports app or at BallySports.com.
If you have cable
If you haven’t cut the cord, then you should be able to get all Royals games broadcast by Bally Sports.
In the Kansas City metro, cable providers Spectrum, Xfinity, AT&T U-verse, DirecTV, Consolidated and MidCo, all carry Bally Sports.
Click here to view a list of providers that carry Bally Sports in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa and the channel numbers.
What about nationally televised games?
The Royals will play in four nationally televised games this year, not broadcast on Bally Sports.
AppleTV+ will air two Royals games this season: at Milwaukee on Friday, May 12, and at Baltimore on Friday, June 9. You have to subscribe to AppleTV+ to watch those games.
Meanwhile, FOX will also air two Royals games: Saturday, July 1, versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Saturday, Aug. 12, versus St. Louis.
Three additional games will air on both Bally Sports and FS1, which comes with most standard streaming services: Monday, June 5, at Miami; Saturday, June 17, versus the Los Angeles Angels; and Monday, Aug. 28, versus Pittsburgh.
What about outside the Kansas City area?
When not subject to blackout restrictions, Bally Sports KC can be seen on Cox, DirecTV, Fidelity, Mediacom, Sparklight and Suddenlink for people watching outside Kansas City.
Royals fans outside the Royals television coverage territory can also subscribe to Major League Baseball’s out-of-market package through MLB.TV (streaming) or MLB Extra Innings – to view games.
This story was originally published on the Shawnee Mission Post.
