MLB Expands Rights Agreement with Tencent to Include Multiple Asian Markets

Major League Baseball (MLB) has expanded its rights agreement with Tencent, allowing the Chinese media conglomerate to broadcast games from the North American baseball league in several Asian countries.

Tenecet will keep broadcasting MLB games in China and now expand to cover more than half a dozen other Asian countries on its WeTV platform under the new three-year contract, which will include the end of the 2023 season.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are among the new countries covered. WeTV is currently available in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

The MLB coverage will include a minimum of one live game for every match day during the regular season, spring training games, All-Star Games, and the playoffs. Shoulder programming will include content from players and influencers.

In 2018, Tencent was named MLB’s official digital broadcasting partner in China, with an exclusive deal to live stream 125 games per season.

Oriental Pearl Media, which runs BesTV, an IPTV platform, as well as regional cable television channels, has also signed a rights agreement with MLB that will run until the end of 2023.

Oriental Pearl New Media’s services are available in 31 Chinese regions reaching more than 100 million households.

If you’re located in a country where Major League Baseball season is not available from any provider, you can use these resources to look for a VPN that will bypass geo-restrictions and grant you access to MLB.TV.

 

Best Streaming Services to Watch Major League Baseball in 2021

Baseball fans from all over the world are getting ready along with the thirty teams for the new season. This is why we’ve made a shortlist of the best streaming services so you can catch all the action from the comfort of your sofa, no matter where you live.

 

MLB.TV

MLB.TV is the most obvious choice. They offer two subscription plans for the 2021 season: the Single Team plan, which costs $109.99, and the All Teams plan, which costs $129.99. Both will give you access to exclusive on-demand content as well as the ability to watch any out-of-market game. Note that having an MLB.TV account does not mean you can watch in-market games for any team. You can, however, listen to the audio broadcasts.

You’ll also get to watch documentaries and episodes from the ’70s and ’80s of This Week In Baseball.

MLB.TV is available on both Android and iOS, streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Roku, as well as game consoles. On the fourth-generation Apple TV, you’ll also get a catch-up feature that gives you a rundown of the key plays in 90 seconds if you tune into a game after it has already started.

 

Hulu + Live TV

At $64.99 per month, Hulu + Live TV will let you watch ESPN, FOX, FS1, and TBS, so you’ll catch most of the MLB games for the 2021 season. You’ll also get access to TNT, BTN, and the Golf Channel, plus there’s an Español add-on for $4.99 per month, so you can also get international sports coverage through ESPN Deportes.

The experience can be further improved through the Enhanced Cloud DVR, which increases DVR capacity from 50 to 200 hours, and the Unlimited Screens bundle, which raises the concurrent stream cap from two to unlimited on your home network as well as three mobile streams.

Both add-ons are available for $14.99 per month or $9.99 per month when purchased separately.

 

YouTube TV

YouTube TV also costs $64.99 per month and offers ESPN, FOX, FS1, TBS, and MLB Network – one of the best selections on the market. You’ll also get the NFL Network, Olympic Channel, and Gold Channel. For another $15 per month, you can get the Sports Plus bundle that will give you access to NFL RedZone and FOX Soccer Plus.

YouTube TV has NBC Sports RSNs and SportsNet NY, but none of the other AT&T-owned RSNs or Bally Sports RSNs.

YouTube TV can be accessed from your computer through a browser, or you can download the app, which is compatible with Android and iOS, media streaming devices, and game consoles. A standard subscription includes support for six user accounts, simultaneous streams on up to three devices, and unlimited cloud DVR where you can store your recordings for up to nine months.

 

FuboTV

At $59.99 per month, fuboTV offers one of the best sports packages on the market, but it does not include TBS or other Turner channels, so you won’t be able to see some of the regular-season games. You will, however, get access to ESPN, FOX, and FS1, as well as all NBC Sports RSNs and a few owned by AT&T but none of the Bally Sports RSNs.

The Golf Channel, NFL Network, and Olympic Channel are among the sports channels available on FuboTV. Many foreign sports channels, such as beIN Sports and TUDN, are also available on FuboTV.

For an extra $7.99 a month, you can get access to the MLB Network, as well as other sports fan favorites like NBA TV, Tennis Channel, and the NHL Network. MLB Strike Zone, a channel that allows you to see updates, highlights, and live look-ins from regular-season games (commercial-free), is included in the Sports Plus with NFL RedZone bundle at $10.99 per month.

Lookback (which allows you to replay certain sports events up to 72 hours after they aired) and Start over are two of fuboTV’s most popular playback features. While some live programming on fuboTV is broadcast in 4K, the majority of its live streams are in 720p. A large selection of its on-demand content is available in 1080p or higher resolution.

In terms of storage, you can keep your recording for as long as you like, but you only get 30 hours. If you need more space, you can upgrade to 250 hours for an additional $9.99 per month or 1,000 hours for $16.99 per month. The limit for devices you can stream on at the same time is two, but you can also upgrade this to three, which will cost another $5.99 per month or five at $9.99 per month.

The fubuTV app is available on Android and iOS, and media streaming devices.