How to watch the Nationals on TV in 2026
Confused by the Nats' new TV broadcast situation? Don't worry, we've got answers to all of your questions right here!
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals make their Grapefruit League debut this afternoon, which means the team’s new television broadcast also makes its debut. The newly dubbed Nationals.TV will be on the air at 1 p.m. Eastern for the game against the Astros, with Dan Kolko and Kevin Frandsen in the booth and Alexa Datt reporting from the dugout.
This has all come together over the last month or so, and there’s still a lot that needs to be finalized between now and Opening Day. But surely you’ve got a lot of questions about how this will work, where you can watch games and what it will cost. (Note: Don’t call me Shirley!) Let’s attempt to answer as many of those questions as possible here right now, so you’ll be all set to go for today’s broadcast.
Also, if you haven’t noticed it yet, be sure to click on Schedule underneath the Nats Journal logo at the top of the homepage for a full spring training schedule, including all TV and radio information …
Q: How can I watch today’s game?
A: Today’s game, plus seven other spring training telecasts, will be available only via streaming on either MLB.com or the MLB App. All spring games will be free of charge; you’ll just need to log into (or create) your MLB account.
Q: So, these games won’t be available on regular TV?
A: Not the spring training games. Regular-season games will be available on both linear TV and streaming.
Q: Do I need to pay for a subscription?
A: If you live in the Nats’ designated home broadcast territory (which includes all of Maryland, D.C., Virginia and Delaware, most of North Carolina and parts of West Virginia and southern Pennsylvania) and plan to watch games only via streaming devices, you’ll need to subscribe to Nationals.TV, which will cost $99.99 for the season (or $19.99 per month). That will give you access to every Nats game (aside from any that are picked up for national broadcast).
Q: What if I don’t live in the region?
A: If you don’t live in that designated home broadcast territory, you’ll need to subscribe to MLB.TV, which gives you access to local broadcasts for all 30 clubs but does have blackouts for any in-market games. For example, if you live in the New York market, you would be blacked out from any games against the Mets or Yankees. The MLB.TV package costs $149.99 per season.
Q: Can I subscribe to both Nationals.TV and MLB.TV?
A: Yes. If you live in the Nationals’ territory, you can pay $199.99 for the season and have streaming access to all Nats games, plus all out-of-market MLB games.
Q: Can I watch the Nats on TV without subscribing to the streaming package?
A: Yes. The Nationals expect all regular-season games (minus any national broadcasts) to be available on most cable and satellite providers. They do not, however, know for certain which providers will be part of the network yet. Major League Baseball is handling those negotiations and is not expected to finalize anything until shortly before Opening Day. But in all likelihood, major providers like Comcast/Xfinity, Cox, DirectTV and Verizon FIOS will be adding a new channel to their systems that will show regular-season games. It’s frustrating to have to wait until the last minute, but unfortunately this is how it has worked in other markets that have switched to MLB-produced broadcasts in recent years, and it’s how it’s going to work here as well.
Q: So if I already subscribe to those cable/satellite providers, will I need to do anything else?
A: Probably not. The new Nationals.TV channel is expected to appear on the same tier of networks as MASN and other sports channels. So if you were able to previously watch games on MASN, you should be able to watch games on the new Nationals.TV channel.
Q: Will there be any other programming on the Nationals.TV channel?
A: No. It’ll just be the pregame show, the game broadcast and the postgame show, plus any re-airs later at night or the next day. Otherwise, that channel will be dark.
Q: If I have cable/satellite, can I also watch games on streaming?
A: Yes. You can go to Nationals.TV or the MLB App and enter your cable/satellite provider to get authenticated and be able to watch like that without any extra charge beyond what you already pay for cable/satellite.
Q: What about old-fashioned, over-the-air TV? Will any games be shown there?
A: Nothing official yet, but it does sound like a limited number of Nationals games will also be televised on a local D.C. station (i.e. Fox 5 or My 20). Those games would also still air on Nationals.TV.
Q: What if I watch TV via a streaming service like YouTube TV, Hulu, Sling or Fubo?
A: It’s not clear if MLB will work out deals with those services to include Nationals.TV. You may have to spend the $99.99 to get Nationals.TV streaming on its own.
Q: I thought ESPN now owns MLB.TV. Am I wrong?
A: Not exactly. Though MLB and ESPN worked out a new deal that ultimately will put MLB.TV on ESPN’s streaming platform, that doesn’t apply to individual team packages like Nationals.TV. You’ll only need an ESPN Unlimited account if you’re buying the MLB.TV, out-of-market, national package.
Q: Is all of this way more complicated than it should be?
A: Yes. Welcome to the wild world of watching sports on TV in 2026.
Thank you that is far more information then I received from THE NATIONALS who I have sent about 5 emails requesting details on the TV situation
Much needed. But based on all the confused online chatter that I've seen, I would move the question about "what if I already subscribe to cable" up to #1 on the list, before you say that the only way to watch the Nats will be if you subscribe to Nationals TV.
I would also add this: if you subscribe to any cable or general streaming service, the best thing to do is wait another month and see whether that service adds Nationals TV to one of the channels. Season plan holders looking for half price Nationals TV don't have to commit until March 23.