Ahead of the 2024 regular season, the Colorado Rockies have unveiled a new online streaming service where fans will be able to purchase subscriptions to stream games for the team. The games will be produced and disseminated by Major League Baseball, rendering the Rockies the third team to utilize the league’s new local media department that was created in the wake of changes to the regional sports network model. Users can pay either $19.99 a month or $99.99 for the season to stream games on Rockies.tv, and there will also be an option to bundle the package with MLB.tv.
The Rockies have been broadcast by AT&T SportsNet since 1997, but the network signed off the air for good as Warner Bros. Discovery halted its rights payments. In addition to the Rockies, the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates were affected by the decision, both of whom joined new regional sports networks. Rather than inking a deal with Altitude Sports or another regional sports network, the team has seemingly opted to utilize MLB for its media rights. Games will be available for fans to watch on cable television as well, and the specific accommodations will be announced in the future.
Most of the organization’s announcing team is expected to return for the 2024 campaign, according to a report from The Denver Post. Jenny Cavnar will not be among them though since she was recently named the television play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics. All game broadcasts on Rockies.tv will contain live 15-minute pregame and postgame shows as well. The Rockies will look to qualify for the MLB Postseason for the first time since the 2018 campaign.
Since the Rockies will be offering games through its own proprietary streaming service, the local blackout will be lifted by MLB. This means that those in the primary television territory for the Rockies will be able to livestream all of the team’s games throughout the season.
Along with the Rockies, MLB is expected to produce and disseminate games for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks again in 2024, although it is not known if the revenue sharing provision enacted last season will carry over. When Diamond Sports Group neglected to provide rights payments to both teams while in Ch. 11 bankruptcy, the league provided at least 80% remuneration of the profits the teams would have realized with their RSN deals to maintain competitive balance.
