MLB to produce, distribute local Reds broadcasts in 2025

MLB will produce and distribute local games for the Cincinnati Reds during the 2025 season. The new arrangement will give more Reds fans in the Club’s home television territory the opportunity to watch games on television or to stream digitally with no blackouts for locally distributed games.

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 across seven states in their region.

Last month, MLB announced it would produce and distribute local games in 2025 for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesota Twins in similar fashion to how the league serviced the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, and San Diego Padres during the 2024 season. Last season, MLB negotiated cable and satellite distribution agreements and made direct-to-consumer streaming options available at Dbacks.TV, Padres.TV, and Rockies.TV.

“Major League Baseball is proud to serve fans of the historic Cincinnati Reds franchise by expanding the reach of their games and removing blackouts for fans in its expansive territory,” said Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media. “Reds fans will enjoy high-quality production, improved picture quality and greater access to the game and their favorite team’s players.”

"Partnering with Major League Baseball ensures a bright future for our televised game coverage," said Phil Castellini, Reds President and CEO. "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. And, having MLB’s production expertise and resources behind every Reds game broadcast ensures our fans will have a quality viewing experience.”

Local games produced by MLB last year included special features normally associated with nationally televised games including Ump Cam, live look-ins to the MLB Replay Operations Center, Wire Cam, on-field locations for pregame and postgame, new RF camera with a shallow depth-of-field look, and increased access like in-game interviews with players. Since 2009, Major League Baseball has owned and operated MLB Network, which has produced live games for 16 seasons, been critically praised for its content, and won 42 National Sports Emmy Awards across 13 different categories. Major League Baseball was the first professional sports league to live-stream a regular season game on August 26, 2002. In 2024, baseball fans streamed 14.5 billion minutes of live baseball games and content on MLB.TV, a record for the service.

More information about where and how fans can watch will be available closer to the 2025 season.