Coverage Overview
In 1998, ESPN Radio took over from CBS Radio as the official, national radio broadcaster for Major League Baseball. The network's contract was recently extended through 2021 as part of Major League Baseball and ESPN's new TV deal. As of 2006, Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio is heard on over 321 stations across the United States.
The games include Opening Day, Sunday Night Baseball, Saturday Game of the Week, holiday games and September pennant race games. ESPN Radio holds exclusive radio rights to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby. The postseason (including the Wild Card Game, Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series) is a semi-exclusive arrangement. The participating teams' flagship stations are allowed to air play-by-play using their own announcers and production. The national ESPN Radio feed may, however, be carried live on another station in those markets as well. If affiliate stations on the teams' radio networks wish to carry coverage of postseason games they must use the national feed. Since the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006, the semi-finals and the championship have also been broadcast as part of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio.
In addition to affiliate stations on AM/FM radio, ESPN Radio's game broadcasts are carried as part of XM Satellite Radio's MLB coverage. However, they are not included in the subscription "Gameday Audio" package on MLB.com with the exception of the All-Star Game, for which no other radio play-by-play feed is available.
Since June 2011, the games can also be heard online at ESPN Radio.com and on mobile devices via ESPN Radio's mobile app and other applications auch as TuneIn. They can also be heard on Xbox 360 consoles via the iHeartRadio app. Previously, rights restrictions prevented ESPN Radio.com or other ESPN/Disney online ventures (such as DGamer) from live-streaming the games. While the games are sometimes unavailable on the ESPN Radio iPod Touch/iPhone app (due to blackout and/or contractual restrictions), they can be heard on the app via the included affiliate stations.
Read more about this topic: Major League Baseball On ESPN Radio