Diamondbacks’ Hall: TV coverage beyond streaming still to be announced

The Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday announced subscription streaming options through MLB that left fans wondering if their cable, over-the-air or satellite services would leave them without their favorite baseball team.

President and CEO Derrick Hall a day later said not to worry.

“People are going to be able to watch on cable and satellite just as they did last year,” he clarified while joining Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke. “MLB is in the process of negotiating with the distributors like COX and DirecTV and then the same platforms that everybody has used. Then they’ll get the smaller distributors around the state that were also carrying our games.

“The announcement we put out yesterday … was really about that (streaming) product.”

The announcement also formally locked in that MLB Media would control production and put out streams over its in-house services. It now allows the league to move forward in having those negotiations with other distribution arms.

“As soon as we know what those channels are and when they’re finalized, all the distribution negotiations are buttoned up by MLB, we’ll be able to (tell fans where to watch) again,” Hall said.

Last July when the D-backs left Bally Sports Arizona’s platforms and were taken over by MLB, it similarly offered subscription options through the league’s services.

But the games also began to air locally for Phoenix-area COX cable subscribers on Yurview channel 4 and channel 7 in Tucson. DirecTV, Spectrum and Comcast xfinity also carried D-backs games. Fubo and DirecTV Stream offered alternative streaming options.

It is unclear which of those channels will continue to carry games in 2024.

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