Diamondbacks announce new TV streaming deal for 2024

The Arizona Diamondbacks now know how and where their games will be streamed in 2024, agreeing with MLB Media on a one-year TV deal on Thursday.

It’s a return to MLB production after the league picked up the team midseason following the Diamondbacks’ split with Bally Sports Arizona last July.

But the D-backs may or may not be on the same distribution platforms as they were toward the end of last season, when the team left Bally Sports Arizona and appeared on separate cable and streaming options. The team on Thursday announced streaming options with linear distribution methods coming at a later date.

“People are going to be able to watch on cable and satellite just as they did last year,” D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Friday. “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.”

How to stream the Diamondbacks

Fans will have two options to subscribe to Diamondbacks games. They can either pay for a yearly package to save money or opt for a monthly fee.

As for the streaming possibilities available at the start of spring training, DBACKS.TV will be a one-team deal for $99.99 for the season tied to only the D-backs with no blackouts. Baseball fans can also subscribe to an MLB.TV + DBACKS.TV package for $199.99 that includes everything in DBACKS.TV with every out-of-market game on demand.

DBACKS.TV costs $19.99 per month, while the MLB.TV + DBACKS.TV package is $39.99 a month.

Fans will be treated to five free spring training games to decide how to consume the team, starting Saturday when Arizona opens the spring against the Colorado Rockies. Free games will also cover: Tuesday, March 5 vs. San Diego Padres, Thursday, March 14 vs. Kansas City Royals, Sunday, March 17 vs. Los Angeles Angels, and Monday, March 25 vs. Cleveland Guardians.

The team expects to announce “linear options at a later date.”

Why did the D-backs need a new TV contract in the first place?

The official announcement comes after Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall hinted while on with Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Thursday that a deal could come down the pipeline soon.

“At the end of the day, I think the simplest move for us and the more logical move is maybe just to stay right where we are with MLB,” he said. “The great thing about that, the feedback we got back from our fans (about) why they liked MLB, was the blackout was lifted.”

“If they were online or they were streaming, they didn’t have to worry about any blackout watching our games locally. That’s not anything we did in the past.”

The move to the MLB broadcast last season happened after Bally Sports Arizona’s channel available on cable and via a separate streaming option ceased to carry D-backs games on television last July. Its owner, Diamond Sports, could not agree with the team on favorable terms of a new deal.

Amid Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy, a judge ruled in favor of the company’s request to cease operations as the D-backs’ TV partner, moving the team’s broadcasts to MLB control.

In addition to the MLB streaming option, the Diamondbacks from that point on aired games locally for Phoenix-area COX cable subscribers on Yurview channel 4 and channel 7 in Tucson. DirecTV, Spectrum, Comcast xfinity all carried the games. Games were also available on Fubo and DirecTV Stream.

Follow @AZSports