2:50 P.M. UPDATE
Comcast has now included the Minneapolis-St. Paul market in its agreement to provide a free preview of MLB Network for Friday’s Twins-Yankees game, which will be broadcast exclusively on MLB Network.
Here’s the statement from Comcast:
“Comcast will make the MLB Network free preview available to all customers in time for Friday’s Twins-Yankees playoff game. Video customers will have access to MLB Network at no additional cost through October 11. The MLB Network free preview will be available on the following channels: 272/733 SD, 873/1219 HD. Customers can also say “watch MLB Network” into their Xfinity Voice Remote.”
Original story
Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff series between the Twins and Yankees starts just after 6 p.m. Friday, but some fans in Minnesota could have a hard time watching it at home.
MLB Network has the exclusive rights to the first game of the series, with Games 2, 3, 4 and 5 scheduled to be televised on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). If you don’t subscribe to a package on Comcast that includes MLB Network, you’re out of luck in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul market is not among the Comcast network that is included in MLB’s partnership with numerous cable/streaming providers to offer MLB Network for free as a bonus Oct. 1-11. Among the providers that are getting the free offer:
- AT&T U-verse
- Cablevision (Altica)
- Comcast (participating markets)
- Cox
- DirecTV
- DISH
- Frontier
- RCN
- Sling TV
- Verizon FiOS
Hi John. Apologies for the confusion and incorrect previous response. The free preview of MLB Network will not be available in the Mpls-St. Paul market.
— Comcast (@comcast) October 1, 2019
So if you live in the metro area and subscribe to a Comcast package that doesn’t already include MLB Network, you’re either out of luck or will have to pay $9.99/month to add MLB Network.
Another solution is to sign up for a free 7-day trial of YouTube TV, which includes MLB Network. You could do the same with other streaming providers that include MLB Network, or just head to a sports bar or a friend’s place to watch Game 1 of the series.
You could also dial it up on radio via AM-830 WCCO.
One bonus of the game being on MLB Network is that it’ll receive an All-Star broadcast crew featuring Bob Costas, John Smoltz and Tom Verducci. The game starts at 6:07 p.m. Friday at Yankee Stadium.
MLB Network only gets the exclusive rights to two games during the postseason, so this is the only time it’ll cause issues for potential viewers.
