$199.99 for the season also gives you access to stream the minor league games. hit or miss as to the quality of the broadcast but it's been getting better each year
If you just want the minor league games, you can get the new MLB+ for $59.99. It also includes MLB Network and Big Inning, and audio for ALL teams, but not the MLB TV broadcasts.
BTW, there’s some more insight over on talknats.com into the financial structure of the MLB versus the other major sports, in particular the NFL, all of which have revenue sharing of all broadcast money both national and local, plus a salary cap. NFL in particular has a near equal split in revenue between the owners and players. All three of NFL, NBA and NHL have average team valuations higher than MLB franchises, and all 3 leagues have margins for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of about 20%. In contrast, MLB, which does not have a salary cap, has an EBITDA margin of 5%, according to CNBC’s Mike Ozanian.
And that 5% is an average, with teams at the top of the revenue trough like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, etc., making the lion’s share while a lot of poorer teams fall below that number.
We have Cox in Northern Virginia. If we are visiting other places, will the cable subscription provision apply, or will we be blacked out when on the road?
Yes, I meant to include that in the article. If you're traveling, you will be able to authenticate your cable/satellite/Nationals.TV account and watch online ... with one caveat: You would still be subject to local blackouts. So if you're traveling to Chicago while the Nats are playing the Cubs or White Sox, you couldn't watch the Nationals broadcast. You'd have to watch the local Chicago broadcast.
Hard to imagine a worse situation for the Nats broadcast business but here we are. No way to build a fan base beyond the baseball junkies (like me). Advertisers (maybe except the gambling businesses) will want to reach a large audience, not just a niche.
It’s a different world now and even the advertisers have altered expectations (and altered bottom lines they’re willing to pay).
As for me, I can imagine a worst situation, the one we lived under with MASN where another team owns the rights and gets 80+% of the profits (except I don’t think there were any profits the last few years as more and more people “cut the cord” and went with streaming).
The demographic teams probably seek to target to build a fan base exited cable tv or never used it at all a long time ago.
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.
I get why they're "pushing" nationals.tv and it's a fine choice for many, but I'll wait the few weeks and see what happens with my cable carrier (fairly confident I'll have the Nats in my premium tier).
Exactly right. Especially given the demographic of Nats fans, most of us watch baseball on TV rather than online. It's annoying that the Nats have taken so long to announce how the games will be broadcast. But this piece does have the key info that ST games can be watched for free, so there's no need to subscribe to Nationals.TV before we know the broadcast situation.
I’m not sure it’s true that most of the Nats fans watch baseball on tv still - if you saw the gigantic drop in MASN subscribers over the last 5 years, I’d say folks were looking for other options and have one now….at long last.
Just because you're streaming the game doesn't mean you have to watch on your computer... There's an MLB.tv app available on your Amazon Firestick, Roku, or your smart TV... It's super easy! :)
As I’m a current Fios user, I’m waiting on any MLB purchases until closer to Opening Day. What I did do is activate ESPN Unlimited from the Fios account page. Fios users that have ESPN in their channels don’t have to pay extra for ESPN Unlimited. I figured I should activate that as I do intend to buy MLB.TV so I can access a bunch of other games. MLB.TV is $134.99 if you buy it from ESPN with ESPN Unlimited already activated.
That HR is my first indelible baseball memory. I'd watched games of the week going back a couple of years before that but this Series was the first thing I really remember. It was right before I turned 7.
The NYT obit of Maz is terrific. I grew up in Pittsburgh and as a Pirates fan. I'm too young to actually remember that homer, but every Pirates fan is well schooled about it.
ElRoy Face passed just a few days ago. Will always remember how he began the 1959 season at 17-0 and finished 18-1, all in relief. Listened to all of those games on KDKA radio called by Bob Prince and Jim Woods. Many of those wins were amazing come-from-behind thrillers. In his only loss, the Dodgers scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for the 5-4 win. 1959 was also the season of Harvey Haddix’s gem. Haddix won two games in the 1960 series, Face saved three, and Maz hit two homers. Maz picked up his second World Series ring in 1971.
Will there be guest appearances from the leading Nationals Beat Writer Mark Zuckerman and will Ryan Zimmerman still join the commentary on occasion? Where will we catch out Zzzz's?
Have to say this really sucks. By not telling us now what cable channel it's going to be on (linear that is) it's almost forcing us to buy the $99 Nats package now. I would have thought that it would automatically be on Monument since that is now along with MASN the biggest local sports channel.
What sucks on this, you say that MLB is negotiating a contract and will announce it right before the season. So we don't know if like last year, I have Verizon Fioz at home and was able to not only watch Nats on MASN, but for free was also able to stream games free on the MASN app.
So this sucks, and it sounds like what happened to me after we won the World Series. Since the Nats came to town in 2015, I was a full 81-game season ticket holder. I had two great seats in the Club Level, section 208 and was not only front row, but on the aisle. The first year, the tickets were $15 each, and parking was $10, so about $3,000. In the second year the tickets went up $20 each, and parking stayed at $10. When they moved into Nats Park, the tickets climbed to, $8,900 a season. There was no really affordable season parking available under $25 then, but we were able to park for free on the street around the gravel pit (located in what is today the soccer area). Almost every year the tickets went up, in 2018, they even put a charge of $5 a ticket for anyone who sat in the front row. By 2020, the tickets were $95 a seat ($15,390), there was no more "free" street parking, and it became a joke to have Nats season tickets anymore. Since 2020, I have been buying seats through StubHub or SeatGeek and pay between $30 to $70 with fees.
I am now 70 and probably would not keep the season package because it's too hard to attend all 81 games, but if Club level seats were reasonably price,d my wife and I would of probably bought a 40 game package.
So sorry now the Nats are screwing around with our Nats TV watching and frankly the team sucks so much it may not even be worth paying $99 for a TV subscrition it this tough environment in which things have gotten so out of hand price wise.
I can only hope that maybe someone from the Lernards see that they are not doing to right thing for the fan.
➡️ Edit to clarify something: If you want to stream you do need to subscribe to MLB TV, but you don't need the Nationals TV add-on. I had forgotten about that because I get it as a season plan perk. All else remains the same.
First off, they can't tell you what they don't know yet.
Second, you don't have to buy anything else for now. And unless something changes drastically, you still won't. If you want to stream you can do it with the MLB app the same way you used the MASN app -- just log in with your FiOS credential.
This has nothing to do with anything the Lerners did or did not do, unless you are in the tiny minority of people who did not want to leave MASN.
It's easier than you think. Did you get the Nats last year on MASN via your cable or satellite system? If so, you're very likely to get them that way in 2026.
Don't sweat it. Just wait a bit and we'll all know something in a few weeks.
If you already have MLB.TV, you should be able to find the spring training games that are available, although some of them will be the other team's broadcasts. If you have Xfinity cable, then just wait a couple weeks until they announce the new Nationals channel for the regular season. You shouldn't have to buy anything unless you prefer streaming.
Try turning it down and listening to the radio feed if you can find one synched to the video, the lag is an issue, but Charlie & Dave are way better than Dan & Kevin.
Thank you for the best explanation I've seen so far of the TV situation. I stream DirectTV so am waiting to see whether the Nats will be on their system. It is frustrating to not know for sure.
$199.99 for the season also gives you access to stream the minor league games. hit or miss as to the quality of the broadcast but it's been getting better each year
If you just want the minor league games, you can get the new MLB+ for $59.99. It also includes MLB Network and Big Inning, and audio for ALL teams, but not the MLB TV broadcasts.
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
Thanks, great info. We needed this.
Thanks, Mark. Excellent presentation and lays it all out.
Hoping to run into you next week. -:)
Thanks for this... my parents keep wondering how they can watch Nats games on "regular TV". They used to get them via MASN.
BTW, there’s some more insight over on talknats.com into the financial structure of the MLB versus the other major sports, in particular the NFL, all of which have revenue sharing of all broadcast money both national and local, plus a salary cap. NFL in particular has a near equal split in revenue between the owners and players. All three of NFL, NBA and NHL have average team valuations higher than MLB franchises, and all 3 leagues have margins for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of about 20%. In contrast, MLB, which does not have a salary cap, has an EBITDA margin of 5%, according to CNBC’s Mike Ozanian.
And that 5% is an average, with teams at the top of the revenue trough like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, etc., making the lion’s share while a lot of poorer teams fall below that number.
https://www.talknats.com/2026/02/20/chuck-todd-talks-nats-baseball-and-the-next-cba/#more-78010
We have Cox in Northern Virginia. If we are visiting other places, will the cable subscription provision apply, or will we be blacked out when on the road?
From experience in prior years, you should be okay. But that was then, this is... who knows?
Yes, I meant to include that in the article. If you're traveling, you will be able to authenticate your cable/satellite/Nationals.TV account and watch online ... with one caveat: You would still be subject to local blackouts. So if you're traveling to Chicago while the Nats are playing the Cubs or White Sox, you couldn't watch the Nationals broadcast. You'd have to watch the local Chicago broadcast.
Hard to imagine a worse situation for the Nats broadcast business but here we are. No way to build a fan base beyond the baseball junkies (like me). Advertisers (maybe except the gambling businesses) will want to reach a large audience, not just a niche.
It’s a different world now and even the advertisers have altered expectations (and altered bottom lines they’re willing to pay).
As for me, I can imagine a worst situation, the one we lived under with MASN where another team owns the rights and gets 80+% of the profits (except I don’t think there were any profits the last few years as more and more people “cut the cord” and went with streaming).
The demographic teams probably seek to target to build a fan base exited cable tv or never used it at all a long time ago.
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.
Exactly. Describes my situation perfectly.
I get why they're "pushing" nationals.tv and it's a fine choice for many, but I'll wait the few weeks and see what happens with my cable carrier (fairly confident I'll have the Nats in my premium tier).
Exactly right. Especially given the demographic of Nats fans, most of us watch baseball on TV rather than online. It's annoying that the Nats have taken so long to announce how the games will be broadcast. But this piece does have the key info that ST games can be watched for free, so there's no need to subscribe to Nationals.TV before we know the broadcast situation.
I’m not sure it’s true that most of the Nats fans watch baseball on tv still - if you saw the gigantic drop in MASN subscribers over the last 5 years, I’d say folks were looking for other options and have one now….at long last.
I still watch baseball on TV...
Just because you're streaming the game doesn't mean you have to watch on your computer... There's an MLB.tv app available on your Amazon Firestick, Roku, or your smart TV... It's super easy! :)
As I’m a current Fios user, I’m waiting on any MLB purchases until closer to Opening Day. What I did do is activate ESPN Unlimited from the Fios account page. Fios users that have ESPN in their channels don’t have to pay extra for ESPN Unlimited. I figured I should activate that as I do intend to buy MLB.TV so I can access a bunch of other games. MLB.TV is $134.99 if you buy it from ESPN with ESPN Unlimited already activated.
Thank YOU! This is gold, Jerry, gold!
Bill Mazeroski passes at 89.
Easily one of the most famous home runs in MLB history.
RIP.
That HR is my first indelible baseball memory. I'd watched games of the week going back a couple of years before that but this Series was the first thing I really remember. It was right before I turned 7.
RIP, Maz.
The NYT obit of Maz is terrific. I grew up in Pittsburgh and as a Pirates fan. I'm too young to actually remember that homer, but every Pirates fan is well schooled about it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/sports/baseball/bill-mazeroski-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
ElRoy Face passed just a few days ago. Will always remember how he began the 1959 season at 17-0 and finished 18-1, all in relief. Listened to all of those games on KDKA radio called by Bob Prince and Jim Woods. Many of those wins were amazing come-from-behind thrillers. In his only loss, the Dodgers scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for the 5-4 win. 1959 was also the season of Harvey Haddix’s gem. Haddix won two games in the 1960 series, Face saved three, and Maz hit two homers. Maz picked up his second World Series ring in 1971.
Will there be guest appearances from the leading Nationals Beat Writer Mark Zuckerman and will Ryan Zimmerman still join the commentary on occasion? Where will we catch out Zzzz's?
Have to say this really sucks. By not telling us now what cable channel it's going to be on (linear that is) it's almost forcing us to buy the $99 Nats package now. I would have thought that it would automatically be on Monument since that is now along with MASN the biggest local sports channel.
What sucks on this, you say that MLB is negotiating a contract and will announce it right before the season. So we don't know if like last year, I have Verizon Fioz at home and was able to not only watch Nats on MASN, but for free was also able to stream games free on the MASN app.
So this sucks, and it sounds like what happened to me after we won the World Series. Since the Nats came to town in 2015, I was a full 81-game season ticket holder. I had two great seats in the Club Level, section 208 and was not only front row, but on the aisle. The first year, the tickets were $15 each, and parking was $10, so about $3,000. In the second year the tickets went up $20 each, and parking stayed at $10. When they moved into Nats Park, the tickets climbed to, $8,900 a season. There was no really affordable season parking available under $25 then, but we were able to park for free on the street around the gravel pit (located in what is today the soccer area). Almost every year the tickets went up, in 2018, they even put a charge of $5 a ticket for anyone who sat in the front row. By 2020, the tickets were $95 a seat ($15,390), there was no more "free" street parking, and it became a joke to have Nats season tickets anymore. Since 2020, I have been buying seats through StubHub or SeatGeek and pay between $30 to $70 with fees.
I am now 70 and probably would not keep the season package because it's too hard to attend all 81 games, but if Club level seats were reasonably price,d my wife and I would of probably bought a 40 game package.
So sorry now the Nats are screwing around with our Nats TV watching and frankly the team sucks so much it may not even be worth paying $99 for a TV subscrition it this tough environment in which things have gotten so out of hand price wise.
I can only hope that maybe someone from the Lernards see that they are not doing to right thing for the fan.
➡️ Edit to clarify something: If you want to stream you do need to subscribe to MLB TV, but you don't need the Nationals TV add-on. I had forgotten about that because I get it as a season plan perk. All else remains the same.
First off, they can't tell you what they don't know yet.
Second, you don't have to buy anything else for now. And unless something changes drastically, you still won't. If you want to stream you can do it with the MLB app the same way you used the MASN app -- just log in with your FiOS credential.
This has nothing to do with anything the Lerners did or did not do, unless you are in the tiny minority of people who did not want to leave MASN.
Tiny minority is right!!
It's easier than you think. Did you get the Nats last year on MASN via your cable or satellite system? If so, you're very likely to get them that way in 2026.
Don't sweat it. Just wait a bit and we'll all know something in a few weeks.
Thanks, Mark, but I’m 73 and a bit less agile.
I have mlb and espn on my Xfinity stream. And on on a I guess premium level .
If I want all home and away games including preseason if possible…
What the heck do I do? Have to add nationals channel somewhere for 99 or 199?
Soooo confused.
Just love watching all the games I can
Roger
If you already have MLB.TV, you should be able to find the spring training games that are available, although some of them will be the other team's broadcasts. If you have Xfinity cable, then just wait a couple weeks until they announce the new Nationals channel for the regular season. You shouldn't have to buy anything unless you prefer streaming.
"(...) with Dan Kolko and Kevin Frandsen in the booth..."
There is no universe in which I would pay to listen to Frandsen's "analysis" which most often consists of "gotta find a way."
Also, he and Kolko together do way too much sophomoric giggling for my taste.
They should be giggling Juniors this season, unless they need to repeat a grade. 😎
I am so with you! Frandson is a complete embarrassment. I can live with Kolko as PxP, but his banter with Frandson is idiotic.
Yup... it's like Beavis and Butt-Head do the Nationals.
Try turning it down and listening to the radio feed if you can find one synched to the video, the lag is an issue, but Charlie & Dave are way better than Dan & Kevin.
Thank you for the best explanation I've seen so far of the TV situation. I stream DirectTV so am waiting to see whether the Nats will be on their system. It is frustrating to not know for sure.
I'm in the same position...a little impatient, but still waiting patiently for a final resolution before the regular season starts. GO NATS!!