MLB to produce, distribute local Reds broadcasts in 2025

CINCINNATI -- When it comes to finding Reds broadcasts on television during the 2025 season, the new network name will be easy to learn.

Say hello to simply, "Reds TV."

Major League Baseball and the club announced on Thursday that MLB will produce and distribute Reds local TV broadcasts next season. That means Reds games will no longer be shown on Bally Sports Ohio, which was recently rebranded as FanDuel Sports Network Ohio, as its parent company, the Diamond Sports Group, worked through exiting bankruptcy.

“With this arrangement, Major League Baseball essentially ended blackouts for fans in our seven-state home television territory and increased the reach of our game broadcasts exponentially," said Doug Healy, the Reds' chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

The Reds are following the Brewers, Twins and Guardians in moving away from the regional sports network model this offseason. Last season, MLB produced and aired games for the Padres, Diamondbacks and Rockies. Those arrangements included cable and satellite distribution, as well as direct-to-consumer streaming options.

That means there will be more options for fans who want to watch Reds games on their various screens next season.

"Partnering with Major League Baseball ensures a bright future for our televised game coverage," Reds president/CEO Phil Castellini said. "This collaboration provides fans with unprecedented access to Reds games, including direct-to-consumer streaming with no blackouts, while maintaining traditional cable and satellite TV options."

Here is what Reds fans need to know about the changes:

Where can I find the games on my cable, satellite or streaming service?

If you've already been watching Reds games via a cable or satellite provider, those games will still be available for you to watch from that same provider in 2025. For fans who do not have cable or satellite service in Cincinnati's home television territory, the games will now be available via a subscription to MLB's streaming service – with no blackouts.

The Reds had an average reach of 1.1 million households on its RSN during the 2024 season. With MLB’s direct-to-consumer streaming option, Cincinnati’s games will be able to reach approximately 13.5 million homes.

According to Healy, the expectation is that anyone with an existing package will continue to have that same package on their cable provider.

“Nothing will really change for fans that have an existing TV package that includes FanDuel Sports [Network Ohio],” he said.

What about Reds fans who live in outlying areas of the Greater Cincinnati region but are situated in other team's TV market territories?

“We have a very wide home television territory. We cover seven states," Healy said. "We bleed into West Virginia, into North Carolina. We’re throughout Tennessee, throughout Kentucky, throughout the majority of Ohio, the majority of Indiana and we even go down into Mississippi.

“There will be no blackouts going forward. Anyone in our home television territory will be able to purchase Reds games through this over-the-top, direct-to-consumer streaming package.”

How much will the streaming service cost?

Prices for 2025 will be set at a later date. Similar to other clubs, fans will have the option to purchase only Reds games or bundle this local package with MLB.TV to stream all games around the league. In 2024, these local packages for the Padres, Rockies and Diamondbacks were $19.99 per month or $99.99 for the season. Fans who bundled the local package with MLB.TV to get games all over the league paid $39.99 per month, or $199.99 for the season.

Who will be calling Reds games on TV?

That is still to be determined.

“We haven’t had a chance to sit down and finalize our broadcaster lineup for the 2025 season," Healy said. "We will be doing that in the not-to-distant future.”

Will there still be pregame and postgame shows?

“The short answer is ‘yes,’ although they will more than likely have a different look and feel for fans," Healy said. "We are still working with Major League Baseball on formatting details.”

What happens to the other Bally Sports Ohio talent and staff that works behind the scenes?

It takes a staff of dozens -- from camera operators to producers and directors and other men and women behind the scenes -- to produce a live broadcast. These people are not Reds employees, but are often contracted workers.

“I think it’s important, especially for the staff behind the scenes in addition to the TV talent, that we want to retain as many of the same folks as we possibly can," Healy said. "Before we make any commitments, we want to make sure that we have had conversations with MLB."

Will the telecasts I'm used to look different?

The Reds will be drawing on MLB's expertise in producing game coverage, which it has done since 2009 on MLB Network.

“We can tap into their innovative coverage of games," Healy said. "Fans are going to see significant enhancements to the broadcasts with different camera angles and other items that we anticipate will be really well received by our fans.”

Local games produced by MLB last year included special features normally associated with nationally televised games. They included "Ump Cam," live look-ins to the MLB Replay Operations Center, "Wire Cam," on-field locations for pregame and postgame shows and increased access like in-game interviews with players."

Healy added that MLB-produced games have the capability to do live look-ins of other pivotal games that might affect the Reds – a feature the NFL has had for decades during Sunday football broadcasts.

“Especially if we’re in the playoff hunt down the stretch, we’re going to get a lot of live look-ins that say, ‘Hey let’s see what’s going on with the Brewers tonight or what’s going on with the Cardinals game,'" Healy said.

How many years will MLB handle broadcasting and distribution for the Reds?

"The Reds view MLB as a long-term rights partner solution," Healy said. "The migration to MLB Media marks a new era of club content distribution and 2025 is just the beginning.”

How will this impact player payroll in 2025?

"We will maintain payroll levels at or above 2024," Healy said. "And we will continue to give Nick Krall, Terry Francona and the entire Reds baseball operations the resources they need to field a championship caliber team at the major league level."