The St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres are in the middle of a four-game series at Petco Park this weekend. And, in a perfect sign of the times, all four games are on different television networks or streaming services.<\/p>\n
As the Padres\u2019 X account showed ahead of the series, Thursday\u2019s Game 1 was on ESPN, Friday\u2019s Game 2 was on Apple TV, Saturday\u2019s Game 3 is a Fox regional broadcast, and Sunday\u2019s Game 4 is on each team\u2019s local broadcast (Padres.TV and Cardinals.TV).<\/p>\n
This is while they all have different start times (local p.m. times of 7:15, 6:45, 4:15, and 1:10) to accommodate the national television broadcasts for the first three games of the series.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how to watch this weekend\u2019s four-game series: pic.twitter.com\/tG8T24u6lm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Many Cardinals and Padres fans are frustrated enough to have to pay for a separate subscription for the local broadcasts produced and distributed by Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n But then add in the games being on ESPN, Apple TV, and Fox? It summarizes how many services sports fans have to pay for to watch games these days, and it\u2019s an inconvenience to have to access different channels or streaming outlets for every game.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at how some MLB fans have reacted to the Cardinals-Padres TV schedule:<\/p>\n .@CespedesBBQ<\/a> do we have a term for a series being broadcast on a different platform for each game?<\/p>\n Cardinals\/Padres is ESPN Thursday, Apple Friday, Fox Saturday, and local RSN Sunday. It\u2019s absurd<\/p>\n \u2014 Nate Schwartz (@_nateschwartz) May 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Cardinals are playing four games in San Diego, and those four games are on four different networks and\/or streaming services. I am not a television audience retention professional, nor am I a media contracts lawyer, but I do know that seems like an absurd own goal:<\/p>\n \u2014 Jeff Jones (@jmjones) May 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Rob Manfred\u2019s legacy, right here. Four games, four platforms, four different booths calling games, a goddamn treasure map to figure out where to go and how to watch. Great work everyone. https:\/\/t.co\/ErllEW2E15<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 rich (@rich_roberts) May 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n As Awful Announcing\u2019s Manny Soloway put it, \u201cWhen you have multiple media rights partners who all want the piece of a marquee series, this is what it looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a very interesting PR problem that is unique to baseball.<\/p>\n When you have multiple media rights partners who all want the piece of a marquee series, this is what it looks like.<\/p>\n But if you put a series entirely on one network, you leave money on the table. https:\/\/t.co\/bz7c3XBjp2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Manny Soloway (@sportsontvguy) May 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Along with Fox (and FS1), ESPN (and ABC), and Apple, MLB games are on Netflix, NBC (and Peacock, NBCSN), TBS, and MLB Network in 2026<\/a>, with many of the games being national television exclusives.<\/p>\n For an MLB fan to watch all of a team\u2019s televised games, it requires access to numerous streaming services\/television networks, along with a subscription to MLB.TV or a particular local market\u2019s RSN or MLB-produced offering. That\u2019s just a reality of the times, unfortunately, and we see it across all sports now.<\/p>\n \t