Few things test a baseball fan’s patience like a blackout screen on a game that matters. MLB Extra Innings exists for exactly that moment: a cable and satellite subscription that unlocks out-of-market regular season games — up to 90 per week on many providers.

4 related posts

Price: Varies by provider (typically $150–$200 per season) ·
Games included: Up to 2,430 out-of-market games per season ·
Supported devices: Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android, iOS, web ·
Provider requirement: Participating pay-TV subscription required ·
Postseason access: Available as add-on or via extra package

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
3Timeline signal
4What’s next

The split worth remembering: the biggest confirmed facts are about channels and price, while the biggest open questions are about 2026 — and most of that second set is controlled by your provider, not by MLB.

Six numbers worth comparing before you buy, one pattern: Extra Innings is priced and packaged differently at every provider, so the only truly universal spec is the requirement for a pay-TV login.

Spec Value
Subscription price Approximately $150–$200 per season; DISH lists $150 for the full season (DISH (satellite provider’s guide))
Out-of-market games per week Up to 90, according to DISH’s package guide (DISH (satellite provider’s guide))
Total games in package Bell lists 1,400 regular-season and out-of-market games (Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs))
Provider requirement Participating pay-TV subscription required; DIRECTV restricts the package to satellite customers (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs))
Postseason access Separate entitlement; U.S. subscribers must authenticate through a supported pay-TV provider (MLB Support (league’s help desk))
Authentication for streaming Eligible cable-provider buyers link their account at commerce.mlb.com/ei in the MLB app (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub))

What channel is the baseball game on tonight?

The short answer depends on where you’re sitting. In-market games sit on regional sports networks (RSNs); out-of-market games are exactly what MLB Extra Innings was built to deliver.

How to find the channel for any MLB game

  • Start with your market. Local RSNs carry in-market games, so a fan in New York reaches for YES and a fan in Los Angeles reaches for the Dodgers’ regional channel.
  • On DIRECTV, the package lives in a dedicated block: channels 719–749, with Game Mix on 720 letting you watch up to eight games at once (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)).
  • On Bell in Canada, open the Sports menu on channel 275, or use 1481–1486 in HD and 485–497 in SD (Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs)).
  • On Xfinity, you need Limited Basic TV and an eligible X1 box — RNG150 boxes don’t qualify (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)).

Channel availability for Dodgers and Yankees games

  • Yankees fans: YES Network is the primary broadcaster for regular-season games, carried inside the same RSN channel blocks that providers group with Extra Innings (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)).
  • Dodgers fans: the same logic applies — the team’s RSN is the in-market default, and out-of-market viewers get that feed through the package.
  • National broadcasts change the math: when Fox, ESPN, or MLB Network carries the game, that feed typically overrides the local RSN on most providers.

Using MLB Extra Innings to access out-of-market games

  • Subscribe through a participating pay-TV provider; DIRECTV, Xfinity, DISH, and Bell all sell it as an add-on.
  • If you bought through a cable provider, authenticate in the MLB app at commerce.mlb.com/ei (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  • After linking, out-of-market games stream on Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android, iOS, and web browsers.
  • When you just need to know what’s on tonight across every network, the Live TV Guide: What’s on TV Tonight & Free Live TV Options covers the full channel landscape.
Bottom line: The catch: Extra Innings only helps with out-of-market games. If you’re inside your team’s home territory, the local RSN is the channel — and no tier of this package changes that.

How to watch the Yankees game today?

For Yankees fans, the answer starts with YES Network — and then splits depending on where you’re sitting.

Watching on YES Network

  • In the Yankees’ home territory, YES is the primary broadcaster for regular-season games, carried inside the RSN blocks DIRECTV groups between channels 719 and 749 (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)).
  • Out of market? Extra Innings is the cable and satellite route to those YES-produced games; DISH prices the full season at $150 (DISH (satellite provider’s guide)).
  • Bell subscribers in Canada find the package on the Sports menu at channel 275 (Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs)).

Streaming options without cable

  • MLB.TV’s Seasonal plan costs $149.99 per season, or $29.99 per month — but it is not the same product as Extra Innings (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  • MLB.TV alone doesn’t solve YES: local blackouts still apply, so Yankees fans inside the home territory need a pay-TV login for the RSN.
  • If you bought Extra Innings through a cable provider, authenticate at commerce.mlb.com/ei to stream with that provider login in the MLB app (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  • For a step-by-step look at how another MLB broadcast comes together, see Where to Watch Seattle Mariners vs Cincinnati Reds: Live Stream.

Using MLB Extra Innings for out-of-market Yankees fans

  • For a Yankees fan in Los Angeles or London, Extra Innings turns YES-produced regular-season games into standard viewing — up to 90 out-of-market games per week on DISH (DISH (satellite provider’s guide)).
  • DIRECTV’s Game Mix mode shows up to eight games on one screen, handy when the Yankees and your local team both play (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)).
  • Before you buy, confirm which RSN feeds your provider includes — the channel mix is set at the provider level, not by MLB.
The trade-off

For out-of-market Yankees fans, Extra Innings works like a YES Network delivery system: roughly $150 per season on top of a pay-TV bill. In-market fans get the worse end of the deal — the package doesn’t lift their blackout, so they’d be paying for games they could already watch.

Bottom line: The implication: the best way to watch the Yankees is decided by your ZIP code. Out-of-market fans pay about $150 for the season; in-market fans just need the RSN channel they probably already have.

Who is televising the Yankees?

One team, several broadcasters — and the split decides which channel you land on each night.

YES Network remains the primary home

  • YES produces the bulk of Yankees regular-season games, and those are the feeds Extra Innings subscribers get when the team plays out of their market.
  • Provider packages place YES inside RSN channel blocks: DIRECTV’s Extra Innings sits on 719–749, with MLB Network Strike Zone on 719 and the Game Mix on 720 (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)).
  • Xfinity routes the package through the X1 platform and organizes team logos by league on the Extra Innings collection page (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)).

2026 broadcast plans

  • MLB says nothing has changed with the Extra Innings package and directs fans to providers for current pricing (MLB.com (league’s official news hub)).
  • DIRECTV’s $149.99 season price is “subject to renewal at the then prevailing rate” — the clearest official signal that 2026 pricing could shift (DIRECTV Insider (provider’s official blog)).
  • Xfinity’s sports page currently advertises $90/mo, so the billing structure clearly varies by provider (Xfinity (cable provider’s MLB page)).

National broadcast appearances

  • ESPN, TBS, FOX, and FS1 carry national Yankees games, including the postseason, and U.S. viewers must authenticate through a supported pay-TV provider (MLB Support (league’s help desk)).
  • When a game lands on Fox or ESPN, the national feed wins: your RSN listing will show the national broadcast instead of YES.

Why this matters: your “who is televising the Yankees” answer changes nightly. YES is the default, but any night on Fox, ESPN, TBS, or FS1 overrides it — so check the national schedule before you assume your usual channel works.

What MLB.TV postseason package is available?

Postseason baseball is a separate entitlement from the regular-season package, and for U.S. subscribers the playoffs now run through network authentication rather than through the Extra Innings channel block alone.

Postseason package options

  • MLB sells postseason access separately from the regular-season plan; a standard MLB.TV subscription does not automatically include the playoffs.
  • In the U.S., playoff games on ESPN, TBS, FOX, and FS1 require authentication through a supported pay-TV provider (MLB Support (league’s help desk)).
  • International subscribers get different options, described in the league’s subscription-access portal.

Cost and included games

  • MLB hasn’t published a fixed postseason-only price; it announces postseason pricing each year. For frame of reference, the MLB.TV Seasonal plan is $149.99 and the Monthly plan is $29.99 (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  • The postseason package typically runs from the Wild Card round through the World Series, with the exact bundle set by that year’s broadcast schedule.
  • Extra Innings buyers get the cleanest route: the pay-TV login they already have is what unlocks network playoff games (MLB Support (league’s help desk)).

How to purchase with Extra Innings

  • Buy the regular-season package through your provider first — DIRECTV, DISH, Xfinity, and Bell all handle the subscription on their side.
  • If you purchased through a cable provider, authenticate at commerce.mlb.com/ei to unlock the MLB app (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  • For the postseason, use the same provider authentication in the ESPN, TBS, FOX, or FS1 apps if you’re a U.S. subscriber (MLB Support (league’s help desk)).
What to watch

The playoff line-up shifts every October, so don’t buy a postseason add-on until the network assignments are set. More often than not, the login you already have is the cheapest “package” available.

Bottom line: The pattern: if you’re already paying for Extra Innings, October is an authentication away. The moment you drop pay-TV, following the postseason legally becomes a patchwork of separate apps and logins.

Do they do extra innings in baseball?

Yes — and it’s worth clearing up the name collision, because “extra innings” means two very different things in baseball.

Extra innings rule in regular season

  • When a game is tied after nine innings, teams keep playing until there’s a winner — that’s the on-field meaning of extra innings.
  • In the modern regular season, each extra half-inning starts with a runner on second base, a tie-breaker designed to shorten marathon games.
  • None of this has anything to do with the TV package, which borrowed the name decades ago.

MLB Extra Innings subscription service

  • The service is an out-of-market regular-season package sold through participating pay-TV providers, not through MLB’s streaming store.
  • DISH says the package includes up to 90 out-of-market games per week (DISH (satellite provider’s guide)).
  • Xfinity requires Limited Basic TV and an eligible X1 box; older RNG150 boxes won’t work (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)).

Differences between the rule and the service

  • The rule decides games; the service decides whether you can watch games outside your local market.
  • Every provider treats Extra Innings as an add-on to a pay-TV subscription, so the name signals “more baseball access,” not “overtime.”
  • MLB’s official position is that nothing has changed with the package; pricing questions go to your provider (MLB.com (league’s official news hub)).
The catch

The name sets a trap every season: search “extra innings” for the rule and you get the TV package; search the TV package and you get rule explanations. If your goal is the subscription, start at your provider — not at MLB’s rulebook.

The distinction matters because the two answers lead to different purchases: the on-field rule costs nothing, while the subscription runs around $150 a season.

MLB Extra Innings specs: what you need before subscribing

Twelve specs, one pattern: every provider treats this package differently, so the spec that matters most is the one printed on your own TV bill.

Spec Detail
Package type Out-of-market regular-season MLB games, sold as a pay-TV add-on
DIRECTV availability Satellite customers only (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs))
DIRECTV channel block 719–749; MLB Network Strike Zone on 719; Extra Innings Game Mix on 720 (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs))
Xfinity minimum service Limited Basic TV plus an eligible X1 box; RNG150 boxes not eligible (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs))
Xfinity subscribe flow Say “MLB Extra Innings” into the Voice Remote and choose the Click to Subscribe tile (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs))
DISH pricing $150 for the full season (DISH (satellite provider’s guide))
DISH game volume Up to 90 out-of-market games per week (DISH (satellite provider’s guide))
Bell channel numbers Sports menu channel 275; 1481–1486 HD; 485–497 SD (Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs))
Bell game count 1,400 regular-season and out-of-market games (Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs))
Standalone MLB.TV price $149.99 per season or $29.99 per month (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub))
Streaming authentication commerce.mlb.com/ei for provider-linked MLB app access (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub))
Postseason requirement U.S. pay-TV authentication for ESPN, TBS, FOX, FS1 (MLB Support (league’s help desk))

Read the rows together and the real trade-off is blunt: Extra Innings assumes you already pay for a TV bundle. On DIRECTV that means satellite, on Xfinity it means an X1 box, on Bell it means Fibe TV. The add-on looks cheap only because the base plan is the actual barrier.

How to set up MLB Extra Innings in five steps

Once you confirm the package fits your provider, setup is mechanical — but the order matters.

  1. Confirm your provider sells it. DIRECTV restricts Extra Innings to satellite customers (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)); Xfinity requires Limited Basic and an X1 box (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)); DISH and Bell offer it nationally.
  2. Choose a billing route. DIRECTV and DISH list about $150 for the full season; Xfinity’s sports page advertises $90/mo (DIRECTV Insider (provider’s official blog), DISH (satellite provider’s guide), Xfinity (cable provider’s MLB page)).
  3. Subscribe through your provider’s menu. On Xfinity, say “MLB Extra Innings” into the Voice Remote and select the Click to Subscribe tile (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)).
  4. Link your account for streaming. If you bought through a cable provider, go to commerce.mlb.com/ei to authenticate in the MLB app (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  5. Pick your channel and test the feed. On DIRECTV, the block is 719–749; on Bell it’s 1481–1486 HD or 485–497 SD (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs), Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs)).

The upshot: the whole process takes about ten minutes, and the short version is — subscribe in your provider’s menu, authenticate once, then favorite the channel block.

What’s confirmed vs. what’s still unclear

The research on this package splits cleanly: some details are locked by official provider documents, while others wait on 2026 agreements that haven’t been finalized.

What’s confirmed

  • MLB Extra Innings includes out-of-market games for subscribers of participating pay-TV providers (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).
  • YES Network is the primary broadcaster for New York Yankees regular-season games; DIRECTV’s RSN channel block for Extra Innings runs 719–749 (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)).
  • MLB.TV postseason access is sold separately and, for U.S. subscribers, requires pay-TV authentication for ESPN, TBS, FOX, and FS1 (MLB Support (league’s help desk)).
  • DIRECTV and DISH both list the full season near $150 (DIRECTV Insider (provider’s official blog), DISH (satellite provider’s guide)).

What’s still unclear

  • Exact 2026 pricing has not been announced; MLB directs fans to providers for current rates (MLB.com (league’s official news hub)).
  • Which specific channels appear in 2026 depends on provider agreements that can change (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)).
  • Xfinity’s advertised $90/mo price has not been reconciled with the flat season prices at DIRECTV and DISH (Xfinity (cable provider’s MLB page)).
  • Whether Roku and other streaming devices stay fully supported depends on the MLB app authentication flow holding at commerce.mlb.com/ei (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).

The pattern: the further out the calendar goes, the thinner the official paperwork gets. Buying on this season’s price is safe; buying on next season’s channel promises is a gamble until providers update their pages.

What the providers say about MLB Extra Innings

Provider support pages are the most direct evidence of how the package actually works. These are the statements worth remembering.

“MLB Extra Innings is included with your pay-TV subscription via linked accounts.” (MLB Support (league’s help desk))

— MLB Support

“The current MLB Extra Innings season price is $149.99, subject to renewal at the then prevailing rate.” (DIRECTV Insider (provider’s official blog))

— DIRECTV Insider

“MLB Extra Innings gives you up to 90 out-of-market games every week.” (DISH (satellite provider’s guide))

— DISH

“The easiest way is to say ‘MLB Extra Innings’ into the Xfinity Voice Remote and choose the Click to Subscribe tile.” (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs))

— Xfinity Support

Why this matters: when providers quote exact prices, channel blocks, and box requirements, the product is stable enough to plan around — you’re buying a tested channel map, not a seasonal experiment.

Is MLB Extra Innings worth it in 2026?

For the out-of-market fan, Extra Innings does exactly what its name promises: roughly 90 games a week your local RSN won’t show, at about $150 per season on most providers. What it isn’t is a cure-all — it won’t lift local blackouts, it won’t replace a pay-TV login, and it won’t cover the postseason on its own. For a Yankees fan in Los Angeles or a Dodgers fan in New York, the choice is clear: keep a basic pay-TV tier with Extra Innings at about $150, or cut the cord and accept that MLB.TV’s blackout rules will leave more of the games you actually care about unwatchable.

Related reading

These guides follow the same decision path — check the channel, check the market, then pick the cheapest route to the game.

Additional sources

xfinity.com, directv.com, directv.com, mlb.com

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Frequently asked questions

Is MLB Extra Innings available on Roku?

Yes, once the package is active on your provider account. Extra Innings is a pay-TV product, but eligible subscribers authenticate at commerce.mlb.com/ei and then stream through the MLB app on Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android, iOS, and web browsers (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).

What does MLB Extra Innings cost?

DIRECTV lists the full season at $149.99, subject to renewal (DIRECTV Insider (provider’s official blog)); DISH lists $150 (DISH (satellite provider’s guide)); Xfinity currently advertises $90/mo on its sports page (Xfinity (cable provider’s MLB page)). MLB says pricing questions go to your provider (MLB.com (league’s official news hub)).

Can I get MLB Extra Innings without cable?

No — the package requires a participating pay-TV subscription. DIRECTV offers it only to satellite customers (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)), and Xfinity requires Limited Basic TV plus an eligible X1 box (Xfinity Support (cable provider help docs)). Standalone MLB.TV doesn’t replace it (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)).

Does MLB Extra Innings include postseason games?

No. Extra Innings is a regular-season out-of-market package. Postseason access is separate: U.S. subscribers must authenticate through a supported pay-TV provider to watch ESPN, TBS, FOX, and FS1 playoff games (MLB Support (league’s help desk)).

How do I link my MLB Extra Innings account to my TV provider?

If you bought the package through a cable provider, go to commerce.mlb.com/ei and follow the authentication flow in the MLB app (MLB.com (league’s official streaming hub)). Once linked, the app unlocks the out-of-market games included in your plan.

What channels are included in MLB Extra Innings?

Channel numbers are provider-specific. DIRECTV puts the package on 719–749 with Game Mix on 720 (DIRECTV Support (satellite provider help docs)). Bell carries it on 1481–1486 in HD and 485–497 in SD, with the Sports menu on channel 275 (Bell Support (Canadian telecom help docs)).

What’s the difference between MLB Extra Innings and extra innings on the field?

On the field, extra innings is the tie-breaker played when a game is tied after nine innings. MLB Extra Innings is a pay-TV subscription that brings you out-of-market regular-season games. The only connection between the two is the name.

If your provider isn’t listed here, the answer is still the same: the package runs through your pay-TV operator, and the channel numbers are set on their side.