Major League Baseball ruined Opening Day.
It sounds dramatic, but it’s the truth.
On the one day MLB.tv needed to work flawlessly, it failed spectacularly. Fans hoping to watch player introductions, pregame coverage, or even the first pitch were left staring at error screens. And the frustration wasn’t limited to out-of-market viewers; SNY’s new direct-to-consumer partnership with the MLB app meant plenty of Mets fans found themselves shut out, too.
No one was happy, the author of this article included.
For context, if you’re unfamiliar with my background or the tenor of my previous work at Awful Announcing, know this: I’m a die-hard New York Mets fan. Living in a southern state, MLB.tv has been my connection to the team for years, and it’s the reason I can follow my beloved Mets when I’m far from Queens.
But Thursday was different. On a day that should have been one of anticipation, excitement, and celebration of the new season, I, like countless others, found my ironclad loyalty to MLB.tv suddenly called into question.
I couldn’t watch anything. Not a single frame of baseball. And neither could anyone else.
At first, I thought maybe it was just me. Perhaps we had forgotten to renew our subscription. It happens to the best of us, right? I started mentally preparing to start pointing fingers in the family group chat, but before I could fire off a message to get the the ball rolling on a game of “whodunnit” started, I checked social media.
That’s when I saw that I wasn’t alone. Fans across the country were sharing their own frustration. I had about 40 minutes until the Mets-Astros game started, but as I scrolled through X — the everything app — I realized this wasn’t just an isolated issue. Fans all over were locked out of watching anything. The bulk of afternoon matchups were starting soon, and no one could get in.
Frustration wasn’t the word for it — it was chaos. People were furious. And they had every right to be.
This wasn’t a minor glitch or a one-off mistake. Opening Day was one of the most anticipated days on the sports calendar. Fans who had been waiting months to watch their teams were denied that moment, as they were left to either search for unreliable streams or stare at error screens. MLB.tv was supposed to be the solution for out-of-market fans, but on its biggest day, it couldn’t deliver.
I tried reaching out to @MLBFanSupport on X, and their response was predictably vague:
“Hi there, we are aware of this issue and expect a resolution shortly. Sorry for the delay.”
Meanwhile, the customer service line was a dead end.
After 40 minutes of feverishly refreshing the app, I caved and found an illegal stream, unlike Adam Schefter. And no, it was not MethStreams. But after missing the first pitch, I had to settle for the Astros’ home broadcast, in addition to porn ads popping up every few seconds. The chat was an absolute war zone, with some of the most vile, heinous comments you could imagine flying by.
But hey, beggars can’t be choosers, especially when I was determined to see Juan Soto’s first hit as a Met.
After missing the first pitch, MLB.tv was finally usable an hour later. But by then, the damage was done. Those 26 minutes of trying to find an alternative solution, all while trying not to panic, sucked the life out of the entire experience.
That sense of renewal that comes with Opening Day? Gone. The buzz? Not so palpable.
Thursday wasn’t just a technical failure — it was a collapse of trust in MLB’s ability to deliver when it mattered most. MLB.tv is more than just a service; it’s a lifeline for out-of-market fans. On the biggest day of the year, that lifeline snapped. The loss of trust stings more than missing a few innings or the game altogether. MLB had built MLB.tv as a reliable option, but on the one day it had to work, it didn’t.
Fans didn’t just feel disappointed; they also felt abandoned.
Now, it’s not about the next game — even though Mets fans aren’t pleased with the setup of their next two games — it’s about the next Opening Day.
That said, how do you rebuild trust once it’s been shattered? Next season, when that “watch live” button is clicked, there will be some hesitation — and understandably so. We’ll move on and probably forget this in the next 48 hours. But by the time Opening Day rolls around in 2026, it’ll be hard to forget this debacle. And that doubt will linger like a shadow.
MLB had one chance to show it could be trusted, and it failed. Now, fans are left questioning whether MLB.tv can deliver when it truly matters. The impact goes beyond a technical glitch — it’s a blow to the confidence fans had in the service, and regaining that trust won’t come easily.
