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.
As the Padres’ X account showed ahead of the series, Thursday’s Game 1 was on ESPN, Friday’s Game 2 was on Apple TV, Saturday’s Game 3 is a Fox regional broadcast, and Sunday’s Game 4 is on each team’s local broadcast (Padres.TV and Cardinals.TV).
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.
Here’s how to watch this weekend’s four-game series: pic.twitter.com/tG8T24u6lm
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 7, 2026
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.
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’s an inconvenience to have to access different channels or streaming outlets for every game.
Here’s a look at how some MLB fans have reacted to the Cardinals-Padres TV schedule:
.@CespedesBBQ do we have a term for a series being broadcast on a different platform for each game?
Cardinals/Padres is ESPN Thursday, Apple Friday, Fox Saturday, and local RSN Sunday. It’s absurd
— Nate Schwartz (@_nateschwartz) May 9, 2026
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:
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) May 9, 2026
Rob Manfred’s 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
— rich (@rich_roberts) May 7, 2026
As Awful Announcing’s Manny Soloway put it, “When you have multiple media rights partners who all want the piece of a marquee series, this is what it looks like.”
This is a very interesting PR problem that is unique to baseball.
When you have multiple media rights partners who all want the piece of a marquee series, this is what it looks like.
But if you put a series entirely on one network, you leave money on the table. https://t.co/bz7c3XBjp2
— Manny Soloway (@sportsontvguy) May 7, 2026
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, with many of the games being national television exclusives.
For an MLB fan to watch all of a team’s televised games, it requires access to numerous streaming services/television networks, along with a subscription to MLB.TV or a particular local market’s RSN or MLB-produced offering. That’s just a reality of the times, unfortunately, and we see it across all sports now.
The post Cardinals-Padres series TV arrangements annoy MLB fans appeared first on Awful Announcing.