How to watch Padres games after Diamond Sports loses broadcasting rights

With Diamond Sports Group missing its deadline Tuesday to make a rights fee payment to the Padres, Major League Baseball will take over production for San Diego’s games, the league announced Wednesday. But what does that mean for the team’s broadcasts going forward and how can fans watch the games?

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Here’s what you need to know:

How to watch the Padres

MLB will take over the production and distribution of all local Padres games starting Wednesday, with games available on television or streaming without local blackouts, subject to national exclusivities.

Games will be broadcast in-market on DirecTV (channel 694-3), AT&T U-Verse (channel 781), Cox (Yurview channel 4), and Spectrum (channel 305). Channel numbers changed due to the shift in distribution from Bally Sports San Diego to MLB.

How to stream Padres games

MLB will stream Padres games on the MLB TV app for free through Sunday. After that, fans will have to pay $19.99 a month or $74.99 for the rest of the season.

Fubo offers Padres games, but YouTube TV and Sling do not.

What talent will be on the MLB broadcast?

San Diego’s primary TV broadcasters Don Orsillo, Mark Grant and Bob Scanlan will remain in their roles, while 97.3 The Fan’s radio team will also continue with Jesse Agler and Tony Gwynn Jr. calling games from the booth.

What about changes in the future?

According to the team, the changes “will remain in place for the foreseeable future.”

The Padres said the organization does not anticipate changes to existing service providers for the 2024 season and “will provide updates with potential additions prior to the start of the 2024 season.”

What they’re saying

“As Commissioner Manfred previously stated, Major League Baseball is ready to produce and distribute Padres games to fans throughout Padres territory,” MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden said in a statement. “While we’re disappointed that Diamond Sports Group failed to live up to their contractual agreement with the Club, we are taking this opportunity to reimagine the distribution model, remove blackouts on local games, improve the telecast, and expand the reach of Padres games by more than 2 million homes.”

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MLB executive vice president of local media Billy Chambers said that the league is “working to elevate the game broadcast experience for all Padres fans” and “new technology, better picture quality and increased access are just a few of the items we are working on to better tell the story each and every night.”

“We have been preparing for this groundbreaking moment,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner said in a statement. “The Padres are excited to be the first team to partner with Major League Baseball to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option through MLB.TV without blackouts while preserving our in-market distribution through traditional cable and satellite television providers. Our fans will now have unprecedented access to Padres games through both digital and traditional platforms throughout San Diego and beyond.”

Backstory

Diamond Sports said Tuesday it “decided not to provide additional funding to the San Diego RSN that would enable it to make the rights payment to the San Diego Padres during the grace period.”

Bally Sports San Diego — the San Diego RSN and broadcaster of Padres games — is not part of Diamond’s bankruptcy filing since it is a joint venture between the Padres and Diamond Sports. Therefore, Diamond cannot argue against it in bankruptcy court and there are no bankruptcy law protections that can overcome a missed payment. The missed payment by Diamond Sports means that media rights revert to the Padres, with MLB taking over game production and distribution.

MLB is not guaranteeing the Padres (or any team that ends up in a similar situation) will make up its lost money, but the league and the other teams will backstop teams like the Padres that don’t receive payments, sources briefed on the plans told The Athletic.

Diamond Sports said it will continue to broadcast games for teams under its contracts.

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(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty)