The ultimate guide to streaming Royals games

Historically, baseball games were distributed either over the radio waves or to our televisions. Here in Kansas City, 610 Sports Radio carries Royals games on the radio, and you can watch the Royals on Fox Sports Kansas City through your cable provider.

But times are changing, and will continue to change. Below is the ultimate guide to streaming Kansas City Royals games—legally, of course—over the internet, whether you have a traditional cable package or not.

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If you have a cable subscription with access to Royals games...

Fox Sports Go

• Cost: Free with TV/Cable subscription
• Streams on: PC/Mac, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Roku, AndroidTV, Xbox One

Recently, Major League Baseball relaxed their rules about streaming in-market games (a concept we’ll get to in more detail in a minute). The upshot is that Fox Sports Go could now accommodate Royals games. If you’re a subscriber to any cable or fiber service that has Fox Sports Kansas City as part of your package, you can log in to Fox Sports Go with your cable login information. When logged in, you can watch Royals games and other Fox Sports content that you have access to through your cable subscription (this can include Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2).

If you don’t pay for cable, Fox Sports Go will not help you at all. But if you do have a cable subscription, Fox Sports Go is a great way to watch Royals games if you’re away from your TV and DVR.

If you are out of market...

MLB.TV

• Cost: $113/year OR $25/month (Premium), $87.49/Year (Single Team)
• Streams on: Pretty much everything

MLB.TV is a pretty great service. The Premium version, if bought for a year, works out to under $10 per month and grants viewing access to every single MLB team. This includes games that have concluded as well as your choice of team broadcast, unshackling you from watching Fox Sports Kansas City’s broadcast if you want to watch the opposing team’s broadcast for any reason.

If this sounds too good to be true, there is indeed a catch. Baseball utilizes several blackout rules, intended to support local cable broadcasts of the games. Essentially, where you live depends on which games you can’t watch via MLB.TV streaming. Below is the blackout map used by baseball. The Royals’ blackout location covers Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, and a majority of Missouri.

Importantly, the Royals’ opponent factors in as well. If you live in Texas and the Royals are playing the Rangers, you will be unable to watch the game via MLB.TV as Rangers games are blacked out.

If you are within a given game’s blackout zone, you may still watch games on MLB.TV, but they will only be available 90 minutes after the conclusion of the game. You’ll get the most Royals-specific mileage out of MLB.TV if you live outside the Royals’ blackout zone, but Premium’s access to all 30 MLB teams and the possibility of time-delayed Royals game viewing may make it worthwhile to you regardless.

If you are in market without a cable subscription...

Sling TV

• Cost: $25/month
• Streams on: PC/Mac, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Roku, AndroidTV, Xbox One

Sling TV is an a la carte service that allows you access to cable channels minus the ‘cable’ part. It is a streaming service that requires internet access and a streaming device in order to work. As such, it may not be a reliable option if you have limited access to quick broadband internet.

The service offers three different packages: Orange, Blue, and a Combo package. The way Sling TV allows access to Royals games is through regional Fox Sports Networks. Essentially, paying for Sling TV will allow you access to Fox Sports Kansas City without needing to pay for the full grouping of cable channels. FSKC is available on the Blue package, at $25 per month, which can be combined with the Orange package for $40 per month. Cloud DVR service is available, but is not available for all channels in all markets.

Sling TV is the opposite of MLB.TV; you will need to be in-market to access the proper regional sports network. FSKC is available on Sling TV.

Playstation Vue

• Cost: $35/month
• Streams on: PC/Mac, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Roku, AndroidTV, Playstation 3, Playstation 4

DirecTV Now

• Cost: $50/month
• Streams on: PC/Mac, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Chromecast

FuboTV

• $35/month
• Streams on: PC/Mac, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Roku, AndroidTV

Playstation Vue, DirecTV Now, and FuboTV are all similar services to Sling TV. All three are streaming services that can be streamed on a variety of devices, and all three offer regional Fox Sports networks. The three do have different costs and channel selections (the listed prices include the cheapest available option with Fox Sports regional networks). Playstation Vue in particular offers a fairly robust series of options, its most expensive ‘Ultra Slim’ tier at $65 per month with access to 92 channels, including HBO and Showtime.

Unfortunately, there have been some issues with all three of these services involving Fox Sports regional networks not being available to places that they should be. Of the three, FuboTV is the only one which actively says that FSKC is specifically available. If one of these three packages entices you, I recommend reaching out to the services directly ahead of time to see if FSKC is available in your exact market.

Coming Soon:

Youtube TV

Hulu

Both Youtube TV and Hulu Live TV are streaming services that are not widely available. Youtube TV is only available in select markets at $35 per month, and Hulu Live TV is in Beta for $40 per month. Fox Sports regional networks will be available on each, though Youtube TV is not available in the Kansas City market. Keep an eye out for more information of these services.