Is audio free on MLB app?
The MLB app, developed by Major League Baseball, is one of the most popular apps for baseball fans to follow their favorite teams. The app provides a variety of features like live game broadcasts, real-time scores and stats, news, and more. One of the key capabilities offered is audio streaming, which allows users to listen to live radio broadcasts of games through the app.
Audio streaming has become an increasingly popular feature on the MLB app in recent years. It gives fans an easy way to tune into games when they can’t watch on TV or don’t want to deal with blackout restrictions. The app provides both home and away radio feeds so you can choose which team’s announcers you want to listen to. While video streaming requires an MLB.TV subscription, audio streaming has some free options available which will be covered later in this article.
MLB App Overview
The MLB app is the official app of Major League Baseball. It is available for free on both iOS and Android devices and provides fans with access to live baseball content and highlights. Some of the key features of the MLB app include:
Live game streaming – With a paid MLB.TV subscription, fans can live stream games in-progress with a choice of home, away, and Spanish language broadcasts. Games are available on phones, tablets, connected TVs, and other supported devices (https://www.mlb.com/apps/mlb-app).
Real-time scores & stats – The MLB app provides real-time scoring, player stats, box scores, league standings, and more to follow games in progress or check results.
News & video highlights – Fans can catch up on the latest MLB news, analysis, interviews and press conferences. Condensed game highlights and playable highlights clips are also available shortly after games end.
Additional features – Other capabilities include customizable notifications for favorite teams, authenticated tickets on iOS, and compatibility with MLB.TV, MLB Big Inning, MLB Home Run Derby and more subscriptions within the app.
MLB.TV Audio Streaming
MLB.TV subscribers have access to live radio broadcasts for every out-of-market regular season MLB game. This allows fans to listen to home and away radio feeds for all 30 teams if they subscribe to MLB.TV’s out-of-market packages (https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/subscribe/offseason).
The MLB Audio subscription is included with an MLB.TV All Team Pass or Single Team Pass. The All Team Pass is $129.99 annually or $24.99 monthly, while the Single Team Pass is $109.99 annually or $19.99 monthly (https://www.mlb.com/apps/mlb-app).
Additionally, MLB.TV offers a MLB Audio-only subscription for $19.99 annually or $2.99 monthly. This provides access to the radio broadcasts without the video streams (https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/help-center/mlb-audio-is-now-at-bat).
Regular Season Audio
The MLB app provides free audio streams for all regular season MLB games to MLB.TV subscribers. This allows fans to listen to the radio broadcasts of their favorite team’s games through the app, even when video of the game is blacked out in their area.
MLB.TV has certain blackout restrictions in place to protect the local TV rights of teams. This means video streams of in-market games are blacked out, but the radio broadcasts remain available. According to MLB’s blackout policy, “Live audio of the games that are unavailable is available to customers within ‘At Bat,’ which is included with all MLB.TV subscriptions.”
So while fans may not be able to watch video of their local team within the MLB app, the radio audio feed will still be accessible. This allows MLB.TV subscribers to tune into games featuring in-market teams via the app, just without accompanying video.
Postseason Audio
Access to live audio of MLB postseason games is more limited compared to the regular season. Only customers with an MLB.TV Postseason Package subscription can access live audio streams of postseason games through the MLB At Bat app. The Postseason Package costs $24.99 and provides live audio for every postseason game.
Unlike the regular MLB.TV subscriptions, the Postseason Package does not include any video streaming of games. It is audio-only access. This is because the live TV broadcast rights for postseason games are owned by networks like FOX and TBS.
So while an MLB.TV subscription provides video access to regular season out-of-market games, fans need to purchase the separate Postseason Package to get audio-only access to postseason games through At Bat. There are no free options for live audio streaming of MLB playoff games.
Audio-Only Subscription
MLB offers an audio-only subscription plan for their MLB app that is cheaper than the full MLB.TV package. This allows listeners to access live radio broadcasts of all out-of-market regular season games. According to the MLB.TV website, an At Bat audio subscription is $19.99 for the season.
The audio-only At Bat subscription provides all the same radio broadcasts that come with the full MLB.TV video package, but at a lower price point. It’s a good option for baseball fans who want to listen to games on the go without paying for the video streams. One key difference is that the audio-only subscription does not include access to Postseason games.
Audio Quality and Features
The MLB App offers high-quality audio streams in various bitrates to suit different connection speeds. According to MLB.TV | At Bat | MLB Audio is now At Bat, audio streams are available at 64Kbps for dial-up connections, 128Kbps for mobile, and 192Kbps for broadband.
For the best listening experience, MLB recommends using a wired internet connection if possible. Audio feeds are available in both English and Spanish. The app also includes audio descriptive services for visually impaired users, providing game details through additional narration.
Advanced audio features like multiple camera angles and in-ballpark audio are available on supported devices like Roku and Fire TV. Fans can overlay the radio broadcast audio onto the live video stream for a more immersive experience. Overall, the MLB App aims to provide a flexible, high-quality audio streaming solution tailored to each fan’s needs and preferences.
Supported Devices
MLB.TV audio streaming is available on a wide variety of devices and platforms including mobile apps, web browsers, and smart speakers.
The MLB.TV mobile apps for iOS and Android allow you to listen to live audio broadcasts and archived game audio. You can also access game audio on the MLB.TV website using most desktop web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.
In addition to apps and web access, MLB.TV audio streaming is supported on many popular connected TV platforms and devices including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Xbox. Audio streaming is available through the MLB.TV channel on these platforms.
Smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home also support MLB.TV audio streaming via voice commands or the associated mobile apps. You can ask your speaker to play a specific team’s radio broadcast and listen to the game through your smart speaker.
Overall, MLB.TV audio is widely available across mobile, web, TV platforms, and smart speakers from leading brands. Checking the MLB.TV device compatibility list can help confirm if your specific devices are supported.
Free Audio Options
While the MLB At Bat app does offer premium audio streaming as part of an MLB.TV subscription, there are some limited free audio options available as well. The At Bat app provides free audio access to game highlights and key plays. Users can listen to highlight clips from the game without any subscription.
For fans looking for more extensive free streaming audio, there are alternative sources beyond the MLB At Bat app. Many local AM/FM radio stations across the U.S. broadcast live baseball games for free over the air. Fans can find their local team’s radio affiliate station and listen to games through a traditional radio tuner.
Additionally, internet radio providers such as TuneIn offer free MLB baseball radio streaming online and through their apps. TuneIn features radio broadcasts for all 30 MLB teams and allows users to listen live for free as described on their website. While subject to local blackout restrictions, this option provides free streaming radio coverage through the regular season.
Reddit users also compile and share free audio streaming options, with fans discussing and recommending unofficial ways to access baseball radio broadcasts as seen in this subreddit thread. While limited, savvy fans can piece together free alternatives to paid MLB audio subscriptions.
Summary
In summary, the MLB app does provide free audio streaming options for select live MLB games during the regular season. However, to get full access to live audio for all MLB games, both regular season and postseason, you need an MLB.TV subscription.
The main free audio option on the MLB app is the MLB Game of the Day, which provides free audio streams for two games per day during the regular season. Other than that, live audio requires an MLB.TV subscription.
With an MLB.TV audio-only subscription, you get commercial-free radio broadcasts for every out-of-market regular season MLB game. The MLB At Bat add-on allows you to also get live radio coverage for every MLB postseason game. So for full regular season and postseason audio access, an MLB.TV audio subscription plus MLB At Bat is needed.
In summary, limited free audio is available, but an MLB.TV subscription is required for full access to live audio streams for all MLB games.