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Following a sixth-consecutive season with a losing record, the Kansas City Royals are hoping to take a step forward in 2023.
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Most Royals games this season will be locally televised on Bally Sports Kansas City, while others may be nationally televised on MLB Network (those ones will also be on Bally Sports Kansas City), ESPN, ESPN2, Fox or FS1. A couple may be untelevised and stream on YouTube, Apple TV+, Peacock TV or ESPN+.
If you don’t have cable and you live in the Royals market, you can watch a live stream of every televised Royals game on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, which both include Bally Sports Kansas City and come with a free trial.
Here’s a full rundown of those options, as well as some ways for out-of-market viewers to watch Royals games live online without cable in 2023:
If You’re in the Royals Market
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of Bally Sports Kansas City, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV. You’ll need to include the “Sports Plus” add-on for MLB Network, but you can include any add-ons you want with your free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Royals games live on the FuboTV app or FuboTV website.
Compatible devices for the FuboTV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN, ESPN2, Fox and FS1 are included in every one, while Bally Sports Kansas City and MLB Network are in “Choice” and up, but you can pick any package and any add-ons you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Royals games live on the DirecTV Stream app or DirecTV Stream website.
Compatible devices for the DirecTV Stream app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
If You’re Out of the Royals Market
Amazon Prime’s MLB.TV Channel
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB game via Prime Channels.
The MLB.TV channel costs either $24.99 per month to watch every out-of-market game (“All Team Pass”) or $129.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Royals games (“Single Team Pass”), but either option comes with a free seven-day trial:
MLB.TV Amazon Prime Free Trial
Once you’re signed up for the Prime MLB.TV Channel, out-of-market viewers can watch Royals games live on the Prime Video app or Amazon website.
Compatible devices for the Prime Video app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, various smart TV’s, Xiaomi, Echo Show or Echo Spot, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
MLB.TV
This is ultimately the same as the Amazon Prime option above, only you’ll watch games on MLB’s digital platforms instead of Amazon’s.
You can watch all out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB games via MLB.TV. It costs $24.99 per month or $149.99 for the year to watch every out-of-market game, or $129.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Royals games. The monthly and yearly all-team options include a free seven-day trial (the single-team option does not):
Once signed up for MLB.TV, out-of-market viewers can watch Royals games live on the MLB TV app or MLB.TV website.
Compatible devices for the MLB TV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, various Smart TV’s, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
ESPN+
This isn’t going to be an option to watch a lot of Royals games, but if you’re looking for a cheap way to watch a random MLB game daily, ESPN+ includes at least one out-of-market game every day during the regular season:
In addition to one live MLB game every day, ESPN+ also has dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (or $13.99 per month for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, out-of-market viewers can watch a daily MLB game live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.
Compatible devices for the ESPN app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Royals Season Preview 2023
In the offseason, they acquired left-handed pitchers Jake Brentz and Anthony Misiewicz and re-signed right-handed pitcher Zack Greinke to a one-year contract, among other transactions. They also hired a new manager in Matt Quatraro, who had been the Tampa Bay Rays bench coach for several years.
In an interview on the Royals’ official podcast “The Home Stand,” Quatraro talked about joining the organization, saying it has “been a whirlwind but a good one.”
“I’ve been really surprised at how positive all the conversations [with the players] have been … these conversations have been really enjoyable and it’s got me even more energized about what we’re about to take off on,” said Quatraro.
He went on to say that he’s excited about what he’s seen in spring training because these guys are hungry for wins.
“These guys are right now working as hard as they can to get ready for the season and that’s exciting to see when everyone comes together … I know they’re energized to perform better. The sentiment that I’ve heard from all these guys is we’re tired of not winning,” said Quatraro. “Like, we’re won in the minor leagues, we know we can win. We know what that’s like, now it’s just a matter of transitioning it to the big leagues. This is a big change, we’re not taking that lightly and it’s not something that we expect is just going to be flip the switch, but at the same time, you watch a lot of major league games, and the difference between winning and losing every night is razor-thin. It’s just getting some of those games to flip our way by doing things a little bit better than they’ve been done in the past.”
He also said to the fans that he is “equally as excited” as they are about the upcoming season.
“I’m equally as excited, so I hope we and I can match that excitement and hopefully that translates out onto the field,” said Quatraro, adding, “We look forward to the support of the fans. I know the players appreciate that, like you said, it drives the energy level up and just remembering what it’s like here when the team is winning. That energy drives the players. It’s going to be an exciting group of guys and I think the more excitement we generate on the field, the more it’ll be in the stadium and I think we’re looking forward to just growing that together.”