Amid the upheaval in local baseball broadcasts, the Mariners have reached an agreement with a local TV station to air 10 games for free this season.
KING 5 will have exclusive rights for those select games, starting with the Mariners’ April 10 game vs. the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park.
Those broadcasts will be available for free to more than four million households in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaiʻi, the team announced Monday.
The announcement continues a hectic opening week of broadcasting developments for the Mariners.
Last September, the Mariners announced plans to shutter their regional sports network, ROOT Sports Northwest, and join MLB’s new media-rights wing to create the new Mariners TV and Mariners.TV streaming service.
MLB now oversees production and distribution for games for the Mariners and 13 other teams.
The new broadcasting plans left some fans in the dark last week as MLB negotiated deals with cable and satellite carries up until the start of the new season. The Mariners didn’t announce key details of Mariners TV plans until Wednesday, the day before opening day, and many viewers were scrambling to figure out how to watch games.
Apple TV and Peacock had exclusive streaming rights to broadcast two Mariners games over the weekend, which added to the confusion for some local viewers.
The new deal with KING 5 offers a traditional way for local audiences to tune in.
“We’re incredibly excited about our partnership with KING and remain committed to delivering our games to fans in ways they want to watch them,” Mariners president of business operations Kevin Martinez said in a statement. “With 10 over-the-air games this season, along with a range of cable, satellite and streaming options, we’re proud to offer Mariners fans more ways than ever to watch our games in 2026.”
KING 5 outbid other local stations, KIRO 7 and FOX 13, to win Mariners rights, industry sources told The Times.
As a lead-in to their broadcasts, KING 5 will air a new program, called “On Deck,” each Wednesday before games.
Here are the Mariners games scheduled for KING 5:
April 10 vs. Houston Astros
April 17 vs. Texas Rangers
May 15 vs. San Diego Padres
May 29 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
June 19 vs. Boston Red Sox
July 3 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
July 17 vs. San Francisco Giants
July 31 vs. Minnesota Twins
Aug. 7 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Aug. 21 vs. Chicago Cubs
The games will also air on Mariners TV and feature the team’s regular announcers, including Aaron Goldsmith, Angie Mentink, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Dave Valle, Ryon Healy and Brad Adam.
“This is an exhilarating moment for Mariners fans across the Pacific Northwest,” Christy Moreno, president and general manager at KING 5, said in a statement. “Bringing games to local fans for free, over-the-air demonstrates our commitment to serving our local communities with impactful sports and programming. It’s exciting to strengthen Mariners’ fans local connection to the team and bring them closer to the heart of the game.”
Fans can visit Mariners.com/Watch for more details on Mariners TV channel options.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com ’
