The 2025 regular season finale between the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers marked more than the end of a baseball season. When the final out was recorded Sunday at T-Mobile Park, it signaled the last Mariners broadcast on ROOT Sports. Closing the book on nearly four decades of regional television history in the Pacific Northwest.
On Friday, the Mariners announced that ROOT Sports, which launched as Northwest Cable Sports in 1988 and later became affiliated with Prime Sports. The network will cease operations following the season. Major League Baseball, which has overseen production of Mariners telecasts throughout 2025, will assume full distribution responsibilities beginning in 2026 across cable providers and digital platforms.
“The end of an era,” one staff member remarked to the Seattle Times after the decision was shared.
For Mariners fans, ROOT Sports and its predecessors have been the consistent home of the franchise’s broadcasts since the late 1980s.
In a statement, the Mariners said, “We continue to focus on finding new ways to bring our games in 2026 and beyond to our fans. We’ve determined joining with Major League Baseball is the best path. Beginning in 2026 and moving forward, Major League Baseball will provide opportunities to bring new features and benefits to viewers of Mariners baseball. We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and excellence demonstrated by the ROOT SPORTS staff over the (nearly) four decades they have televised our games.”
For fans, the transition may not feel drastic. Games will remain available through cable providers like Comcast Xfinity and DirecTV. However, broadcasts will be streamlined, likely featuring games and limited pre- and postgame programming.
Streaming access, previously offered through the ROOT Sports app, will shift to MLB.TV with a subscription cost yet to be determined.
Behind the scenes, the change carries more weight. Mariners chairman John Stanton met with ROOT staff in Bellevue last week to confirm the network’s closure. More than 25 employees will lose their jobs in November or the months following. Continuing a wave of layoffs that began last year. While production talent such as play-by-play announcer Aaron Goldsmith is employed directly by the Mariners. Analysts Angie Mentink and Ryan Rowland-Smith, along with pregame host Brad Adam, are expected to be rehired either by the team or MLB under new arrangements.
ROOT Sports’ decline mirrors broader challenges facing the regional sports network model. Once a lucrative source of local revenue, RSNs have struggled under cord-cutting trends and the rise of direct-to-consumer streaming. When Warner Bros. Discovery, a minority partner, exited in 2023. The Mariners became the only MLB franchise to fully own its network — a distinction that quickly became unsustainable.
MLB, which launched its own local broadcasting division in 2023, has steadily absorbed team rights agreements. Seattle becomes the seventh franchise to fully partner with the league for local distribution. Industry sources suggest MLB’s ultimate goal is to bring all 30 clubs under its umbrella.
For the Mariners, the move closes a chapter that began with scattered broadcast partnerships in the 1990s before locking in exclusive RSN rights through deals with Prime Sports, Fox Sports Net, and eventually ROOT. While the names and logos have changed, the network’s role as the team’s television home remained constant — until now.
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