MLB has a new media rights deal, and amid the league’s announcement Wedneasday was the revelation of a new way to watch Seattle Mariners TV broadcasts during the 2026 season.
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The ESPN app will offer in-market games for at least six teams whose game broadcasts are being distributed on MLB platforms in 2026. That includes the Mariners.
“ESPN has acquired exclusive, local in-market streaming rights for MLB Clubs,” reads a press release from ESPN. “The MLB Clubs currently include the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. In 2026, the games will be available to purchase and stream on MLB platforms.”
The in-market broadcasts would be available either independently, in a bundle with MLB.TV, or in a package centered around the ESPN app, per an MLB.com article published Wednesday afternoon. Additionally, “the local in-market streaming products will continue to be available through MLB’s platforms,” per MLB.com.
The Mariners announced in September that their TV broadcasts would be moving in 2026 as ROOT Sports, which the Mariners had a 100% ownership stake in since the 2023-24 offseason, shut its doors at the conclusion of the 2025 season. An article by MLB.com Mariners reporter Daniel Kramer said M’s games in 2026 would still be available “through a specific channel” for in-market cable subscribers, while “streamers will be able to watch through MLB.TV with no blackouts.”
ESPN said in a press release Wednesday that MLB.TV will stream live and on-demand on the ESPN app. MLB.TV is a streaming service that offers a season-long subscription to out-of-market game broadcasts, as well as additional subscriptions to in-market broadcasts for teams under the MLB broadcasting umbrella.
The exact form that subscriptions to Mariners TV broadcasts will take in 2026 has yet to become clear.
The 2025 season was a transition year for Mariners TV broadcasts, as it was the first where MLB ran the production during games while still airing on ROOT. Additionally, ROOT introduced a streaming subscription to the channel in 2025 that allowed fans to watch Mariners games on an app without needing to subscribe to a traditional cable TV service.
As for Mariners radio broadcasts, games will continue to be free from Seattle Sports either on the Seattle Sports app or on 710 AM. Mariners games on the Seattle Sports app are available to fans in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia and Alaska. Click here for more details.
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