MLB Blackout Rules

Major League Baseball blackout rules are different than the NFL's. In the Nation Football League, games are blacked out within a 75-mile radius of an NFL stadium and may be broadcasted if the game is a road game or if the game sells-out 72 hours or more before the start of the game. In the MLB, things are a bit different. Games are blacked out based on three criteria.

1. Local broadcast and cable stations which have contracts with a team have priority over national broadcasters. If a game is televised on ESPN, but the a local station like Fox Sports SW also hold the rights to the game, ESPN will be blacked out.


2. Fox has exclusive nationwide rights for MLB games on Saturdays between 3:55PM ET and 7:00PM ET. ESPN has the same rights for games on Sunday after 8:00PM ET. Games beginning during these time periods can only be telecast by the network holding the exclusive national rights (games that run long are not cut off). For example, if a game is being shown on MLB Extra Innings and the game runs past 7PM ET on Sunday, the game is allowed to be shown for its remainder. The Texas Rangers and Florida Marlins are exempt from the exclusive nationwide policies because a majority of their games are played at night when playing at home on Sundays due to the weather. TBS does not hold nationwide exclusivity to their Sunday afternoon game-of-the-week.


3. Radio stations (including flagships) are not allowed to include MLB games in the live Internet streams of their station programming.

Due to these rules, fans hundreds of miles away are unable to watch their favorite teams play. Fans in Iowa cannot watch the Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, Twins or White Sox. Fans in Las Vegas are unable to watch the A's, Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants or Padres.