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How to Watch the MLB Playoffs Live

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If you want to watch this year’s MLB playoffs, you no longer need a television with an antenna or cable subscription. For the first time ever, you can officially stream playoff games using the MLB At Bat mobile app on your iOS, Android, BlackBerry or Windows Phone device, or through MLB.TV on a variety of streaming devices, like the Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One and PS4.

Beginning this week, the best teams that finished near the top of their divisions will compete against each other for the privilege of hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy after winning the World Series.

The playoffs start tomorrow, with wild-card games featuring the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants. The two winners out of this bunch will move onto the American League and National League Division series.

Whether your favorite team is in the playoffs or you just want to watch some classic postseason baseball, there are multiple ways to watch the MLB Postseason live. Here are a few notable options that you can choose from.

UPDATE: With the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics officially out of the running, the division playoffs are now under way for both the American League and National League, with games airing today and later tonight. You can watch the games on TV, through MLB At Bat, or even with the FOX Sports GO app, which will be streaming most of the National League games.

On Your Television

If you already have cable, that’s most of the battle right there, and you’re good to go. All of the American League playoff games will air on TBS, while most of the National League playoff games will air on either FOX or the MLB Network.

2014 MLB Postseason

However, the World Series will air on local FOX channels, so you’ll only need at least an over-the-air antenna to watch the World Series.

If you don’t have cable, which isn’t too surprising to hear since so many people are getting rid of it in favor of streaming options, you’re not completely out of luck, but it won’t be as easy as flipping the channel on your remote.

Streaming Online

There are several ways you can watch live television on your computer, and there are a few somewhat shady websites where you can live stream TV shows and sporting events. One website that comes to mind is Stream2Watch. You can live stream sports, as well as specific channels in order to watch a specific television show that comes on. It’s also a good idea to enable some sort of ad blocker when accessing these kinds of websites, as they’re usually littered with advertisements.

MLB.TV

Of course, this practice is illegal for the most part (not for you, but for the website providing the service), so if you don’t feel comfortable doing this, we don’t blame you. However, your options get a bit slimmer from there.

You can also use MLB.TV, which allows you to watch baseball games live on your computer, but the service charges a fee of $3.99 for the remainder of the season, and if you don’t already have a subscription to the service, it’s probably not worth paying $4 to watch just one game, although it will give you access to watching the playoffs if you’re interested in that.

You can also use the MLB.TV app on a variety of streaming devices, including the Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation or Roku.

Using MLB At Bat

MLB At Bat is an app that’s available for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices, and it allows you to watch live baseball games right on your phone or tablet. The app itself is a free download, and a one-time $3.99 charge will get you access to all sorts of stats, highlights, replays and more during the entire playoffs.

MLB-At-Bat

MLB At Bat will let you stream every game of the World Series, as well as select Postseason games, but not all of them, so that’s something to be aware of.

One big complaint with MLB.TV and MLB At Bat (as well as other live sports apps) is that there are blackout restrictions, meaning that if you live near the team you’re wanting to watch, you won’t be able to. This is to get more people to the stadium to watch the game, rather than just stay at home and watch it on the TV (and it also has to do with broadcast licensing rights and a whole bunch of other nonsense). It’s a clever move for the parties involved, but it’s really annoying for us fans.

There have been easy ways around blackout restrictions if you watch the games on your iOS or Android device, but the recent updates to MLB At Bat seem to block these methods, so your mileage may vary based on how you set up your VPN and what VPN service you use.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Chad

    09/30/2014 at 6:09 pm

    Mlb TV premium subscribers are not a able to stream the wild card game tonight on the Roku (I have R3). Very disappointing.

  2. JK

    09/30/2014 at 8:07 pm

    Good info – thanks!

  3. ken

    09/30/2014 at 8:13 pm

    The roku blackout is disappointing, have to be outside US and Canada to stream on a Roku. You do however get Postseason.TV on the MLB at Bat app so you can watch live from one of ten cameras. Only down side is they don’t offer a selectable multi camera option

  4. ken

    09/30/2014 at 8:19 pm

    Watch TBS app has a live stream on android. Sure the website will work on laptop with HDMI hookup

  5. ken

    09/30/2014 at 8:27 pm

    TBS.com/watchtbs invite a friend with Xfinity over and borrow their log in and welcome to cable free live streaming of MLB ALDS ALCS… you NL fans I don’t care to help. Now canceling the pointless MLB.TV subscription I just bought

  6. Nick Lee

    10/05/2014 at 10:13 am

    I’m with Ken. Just moved to Hawaii and figured I’d buy mlb.TV to watch the tigers. Then I find every west coast team is a blackout team, ridiculous. Then I find out only a few cable providers are listed to be allowed to see the post season. There is a 0% chance I’ll be subscribing next year. Not that the mlb would care.

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