As it turns out, local Cleveland Guardians fans will be able to watch the team on television without a subscription to its streaming service after all.
Hours ahead of their Opening Day matchup against the Kansas City Royals, the reigning American League Central Division champions announced that it has reached a deal to air its games locally on broadcast television. As such, Guardians games will be available in the local market on most cable providers, including the following:
- AT&T U-verse: Channel 736 or 1736
- Cox: Channel 80
- DIRECTV Channel 662
- Spectrum: Most of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky – Channel 306 or 1306 (National Channel 447)
- Powell, OH – Channel 539 or 1538
- Ashland, Kentucky and Ironton, Ohio – Channel 151 or 1151
- Westfield, New York – Channel 305
- Fubo: Available
As noted by The Athletic’s Zack Meisel, the Guardians will also be available on some smaller cable providers as well. Viewers can search to see where the team is available here.
Notably, the Guardians aren’t available on multiple streaming service cable providers, including YouTube TV, Hulu Live and Sling TV.
The 2025 season marks the first in which MLB will serve as the Guardians’ media rightsholder following the expiration of the team’s previous deal with Diamond Sports Group (now known as Mainstream Sports Group). Prior to Thursday morning, Guardians games were set to only be available via the team’s streaming service, CLEGuardians.TV, for $99 for the entirety of the season.
Suffice it to say, the Guardians’ local TV negotiations came down to the wire, although it also seems convenient that the team waited until the last possible minute to announce where games will be available outside of its subscription service. In any event, we now know that Guardians games will be available to fans locally both behind a paywall and in front of it.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.