The World Series is starting soon and many baseball fans will be looking for the best ways to watch it.
While many may stick to using the cable TV subscriptions, others will be hoping to stream it online.
While there are many paid options available, there are also some free ones as well. Read on to learn how you can watch the MLB World Series for free.
Table of Contents
The MLB and the World Series
The 2023 Major League Baseball regular season has featured and will hopefully continue to feature exciting matches right up until the end of the season. Statistically, we’re almost guaranteed some great games every season since the league has 30 teams that each play a mammoth 162 games per season.
This extensive season culminates in the final stage of the tournament, allowing for even more games to be played.
That final stage is called the Major League Baseball World Series and it will start on April 7.
We’re aware of the fact that L.A. Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays fans are itching to get one up over the other once again as they hope the two teams square off in the 118th edition of the MLB World Series.
In 2020, the two franchises that met each other at the MLB World Series stage were LA Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, with the Dodgers beating the Rays at the end of six games and thus winning the tournament. In 2021 though, the Atlanta Braves beat Houston Astros 4-2 to take the title.
The first was in 1916, over 100 years ago. Back then, the Dodgers ended up beating the Red Sox four games to three.
The last MLB regular season launched in April 1 and ended on October 3. After that came the postseason which began on October 5 and finished on November 3.
If you include the World Series, that’s over half a year of high-quality baseball for fans to enjoy.
The 2021 season began on April 1 (not an April’s fool joke) ended on October 3 which meant the last year’s edition of MLB World Series took place October,26, 2021.
Using the methods we’ll discuss below, you should have no trouble catching all the games of the World Series.
You’ll be able to stream the games from every country on nearly any streaming device, including your smartphone and computer.
DISCLAIMER:
Security Gladiators in no way encourages or condones any kind of copyright violation or circumvention of restrictions. That includes streaming illegal content as some services can host both legal and pirated content. You need to do your own research to see if these services and content are legal in your own country. We suggest to always use a VPN while streaming or downloading anything from the web.How to Stream the World Series in the U.S.
If you live in the US, you’re already close to the highest concentration of die-hard baseball fans in the world.
Because of that, we’re sure you’ve heard about MLB.TV. The MLB.TV streaming service is the official streaming service of Major League Baseball. It allows baseball fans to follow all of their favorite teams on a myriad of devices.
The streaming service offers content from the beginning of the season to the end and includes spring training and postseason games.
In terms of coverage, there’s no other streaming service that can surpass what MLB.TV has to offer.
Another great aspect of using this service is that it has support for almost all internet-enabled devices that most people use today.
If you have any streaming device there’s a good chance that MLB.TV supports it.
With a subscription to MLB.TV you have the ability to watch every game of the MLB season. You can choose to watch the games live or on-demand, both in HD.
As for subscription options, MLB.TV has a monthly payment option for users who like to be on a month-to-month basis with the services they use. That costs around $94.99 per month.
Note:
The best packages are the yearly ones which offer the biggest discounts and offer the best value for the money.Moreover, MLB.TV allows users to subscribe to a package that enables them to follow just a single team for the full season at a discounted price of $74.99 a year. If you want access to all the MLB games you’ll be charged $94.99 a year. If you are only interested in following a single team then MLB will charge $74.99 per year for the full season.
No matter what package you choose, the service will deliver the action at a whopping 60 fps.
The MLB.TV streaming service is so well rounded that it even features multiple options on the audio front.
You can consume your MLB.TV content in Spanish or English. You also have the option of listening to the away team’s or home team’s radio broadcast.
There’s even an option for the MLB ballpark’s already-present natural sounds so you can feel as though you’re actually at the game.
We’ve already mentioned that MLB.TV supports some of the most popular internet-enabled streaming devices but it’s time to get specific. So, here’s a short list of streaming devices that work perfectly with MLB.TV:
- iOS
- Android
- PlayStation 4
- Xbox One
- Amazon Fire TV
- Chromecast
- Apple TV
How to Watch the World Series in the U.S. via Cable TV
This section is for those who already have a cable subscription. It’s time to put your cable package to good use and watch some baseball games.
With that said, we should warn you that if you choose to use your cable TV subscription to watch the World Series or any part of the season you should be prepared to learn a hectic combination of channels.
Games that take place on a Sunday afternoon get broadcasted on TBS. On the other hand, MLB games that are played on Sunday nights get broadcasted on ESPN. ESPN also broadcasts games that take place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Games played on Thursdays usually get broadcasted on the MLB network. As for games that happen on Saturday afternoons, Fox Sports 1 takes care of those.
And finally, for Saturday night games, you’ll have to switch to Fox.
If you got all that, great. If you’d like to know more about your options as far as watching MLB games online via a sports streaming site, you need to keep reading.
What About Blackout Games? What About Watching Them Outside the U.S.?
Since a lot of baseball fans don’t live in the U.S., there’s a good chance your country doesn’t have an official broadcaster for the MLB.
Or maybe you can’t watch a game because it’s not being broadcasted on MLB.TV due to an MLB blackout.
This is important:
In that case, you have no other choice but to use a VPN service.Luckily, we’ve compiled a list of the top ten best VPNs that can, among other things, help you watch the MLB and the World Series.
Once you‘ve signed up for a VPN service, you need to connect to a VPN server that’s located in the U.S. Make sure you connect to a server that isn’t subject to MLB blackouts.
A VPN service is the right tool for the job because they’re able to change your IP address so it appears that you’re located in a different location from your actual location.
Once you’ve changed your IP address, websites and apps will think you’re in a completely different location despite you being in the same place.
Unfortunately, cable television networks aren’t always going to let you catch all the action live. They will make streaming MLB games difficult for you if you’re not willing to pay for a cable TV subscription.
Note:
Keep in mind that blackouts occur because the MLB has to respect the exclusive rights of different TV stations.Therefore, MLB.TV is unable to show live games as those games are getting broadcasted locally. Once the match ends and more than 90 minutes have passed since it ended, then you can watch the game on MLB.TV.
As mentioned before, if you use a VPN service you can get around this problem safely and legally. Once you’ve gotten yourself an MLB package, you need to sign up for a VPN service and then log in. After that, connect to a server in a U.S. state where the blackout isn’t occurring and you’ll be able to watch the game as you would normally.
Some Lesser Known (And Potentially Free) Ways to Watch the World Series
While it is a great option, not everyone will want to sign up for MLB.TV. There’s no way a single streaming service can adequately serve the needs of every sports fan.
There are plenty of other streaming options that offer access to MLB games and many other sports as well. Let’s take a look at some of the best ones.
ESPN+
ESPN+ is perhaps the best sports streaming service for the simple reason that its line up of live sports is as dynamic and comprehensive as fans could possibly want it to be.
Most of the films and original shows that you can watch on ESPN+ are in HD quality. ESPN+ also has exclusive programs in addition to an on-demand library which is simply unmatched.
More importantly though, ESPN+ is cheap at $4.99 per month to get access to everything they have to offer.
ESPN+ allows users to access one MLB game every day of the week throughout the MLB’s regular season.
In that regard, you’ll definitely be able to find more comprehensive streaming services. However, for those who are interested in baseball and other sports ESPN+ is as good as any other streaming service.
PlayStation Vue
Update: PlayStation Vue is no longer available as it has shut down effectively since January 2020.
At $49.99 per month, this is certainly not the cheapest option you can find.
If you sign up for PlayStation Vue’s Access subscription plan you should have access to channels like TBS, Fox, FS1, ESPN, ESPN 2 and more. These are all the channels on which baseball games are broadcasted.
Note that the PlayStation Vue Access plan doesn’t offer users the MLB Network. If you want access to the MLB Network you’ll have to sign up for the Core plan which costs $54.99 per month.
Both options have a 14-day free trial so you can make sure you like it before committing to the service.
Sling TV
Sling TV offers three different plans, two of which are $35 per month and one that is $50 per month. If there’s a single inexpensive streaming service on which you can watch nearly all MLB games then Sling TV is it. Sling TV also has a sports package (which may or may not cover MLB games depending on the current Sling TV policy) which costs $10 a month.
As we mentioned earlier, you won’t be able to watch games that will be shown on the MLB Network.
This is done so that users who only watch a select number of channels don’t have to pay for channels they won’t watch. Unfortunately, if you want to stream as many MLB matches as possible, you have no choice but to sign up for both packages.
Sling TV is compatible with most streaming devices including Chromecast, Xbox One, Roku and Apple TV.
Keep in mind that if you become a new Sling TV customer, it has a 7-day free trial. In other words, you can watch at least 25% of the World Series before having to pay for Sling TV.
Using similar tactics, you can sign up for other streaming services on this list using their free trial offers and then cancel the trial after it runs out.
Hulu with Live TV
To get this service you’ll have to pay $69.99 per month. Hulu with Live TV gets you access to TBS, FS1, Fox, ESPN and ESPN 2.
These are all the channels on which MLB games are shown.
Keep in mind that Hulu with Live TV doesn’t come with the MLB Network, but it does have a one month free trial for new subscribers.
AT&T NOW
Update: AT&T Now has been discontinued and has been replaced with DirecTV Stream. DirecTV Stream has three packages ranging from $70 per month to $105 per month depending on the number of channels the user wants access to.
AT&T NOW, formerly known as DirecTV NOW, charges anywhere from $65 to $135 per month (based on your subscription package) for access to all of its channels. The great thing about this streaming service is that it offers all the channels you’ll need to watch as much of the MLB as possible online.
Not only that, but it also comes with some extra channels that baseball fans may find interesting.
If you want to watch a lot of different content including live MLB games then AT&T NOW should be your number one choice.
The service doesn’t come with advanced streaming features like cloud DVR, but it does have a 7-day free trial that you can use to test the streaming platform.
The trial can be used to get you to the second week of the World Series before you have to pay.
FuboTV
FuboTV charges $69.99 per month for the Pro English-language package. There are more advanced plans for which you have to pay more.
While this is more than what’s charged by other services on this list, it does give you access to over 100 channels.
Fortunately, now FuboTV does come with ESPN, and the MLB Network (still now TBS though), so you will be able to watch almost every MLB game.
However, FuboTV does offer robust local coverage and has advanced streaming features like 30 hours of storage for cloud DVR. Just like most of the other streaming services on this list, FuboTV comes with a 7-day free trial that you can use to watch part of the World Series.
YouTube TV
Although you have to pay $64.99 per month for YouTube TV, you’ll get access to all the premium MLB streaming channels like TBS, the MLB Network, Fox, FS1, ESPN and ESPN 2.
Note:
Google has gone all out with YouTube TV as it offers all the required networks for baseball nuts who want to watch all the important baseball games.Rest assured that if there’s a national baseball broadcast in the country, YouTube TV will have it for you. Of course, the actual list will depend on your location.
All you should do is to go to the welcome page and then see which regional and local sports networks are available in your region.
The service has a 7-day free trial, like the other services on this list.