Royals announce local and national TV schedule

The Royals announced today that all 162 games will be televised, including 13 as part of a national television package. The remaining 149 games will air on Royals.TV, the new channel created by the Royals after they ended their partnership with Diamond Sports, the group that owned FanDuel Sports Kansas City.

Here is where you can find Royals games that will air on national TV packages.

The Royals are scheduled to appear on FOX four times this season, starting with their second game of the year, the Saturday night, March 28 matchup in Atlanta against the Braves. The four games that will air are:

These games are part of regional coverage, so they will not air nationally. These games will air over-the-air on FOX channels. The Royals will also appear four times on FS1:

The FS1 games will be simulcast on Royals.TV as well.

ESPN will air 30 games this year, starting on April 15 when they air the Mets vs. Dodgers game for Jackie Robinson Day. The Royals will appear on the Worldwide Leader for an afternoon game on Memorial Day, May 25 at 2:40 CT, when they host Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees in a rematch of the 2024 ALDS. Other dates could be added as ESPN fills out its schedule.

Apple TV returns with “Friday Night Baseball”, and will include the “MLB Big Inning” whip-around show that gives live look-ins and highlights of action around the league. The Royals will appear four times in the first half schedule that has been released so far:

More games could be added in the second half. Games will be called by broadcast teams Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play), Dontrelle Willis (analyst), and Heidi Watney (sideline reporter); and Alex Faust (play-by-play), Ryan Spilborghs (analyst), and Tricia Whitaker (sideline reporter), with Rich Waltz, who will join the broadcast team to call select games during the season.

NBC has partnered with MLB for the first time in 25 years, and will air 27 games on their platforms that include NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock. They will air Sunday Night Baseball, with the Royals appearing three times:

NBC will feature Jason Benetti and Matt Vasgersian on play-by-play, with studio coverage from Bob Costas, Ahmed Fareed, Clayton Kershaw, Joey Votto, and Anthony Rizzo.

Just like last year, the Royals will air ten home games on free, over-the-air television in the Kansas City area, including the home opener against the Twins. The games that will air on KCTV5 include:

These games will also be simulcast on Royals.TV.

All remaining Royals games will air on Royals.TV, which returns the crew of Ryan Lefebvre, Rex Hudler, Jake Eisenberg, Jeremy Guthrie, with Joel Goldberg and Jeff Montgomery on pre- and post-game shows. The broadcast is also adding Eric Hosmer as an analyst and Bridget Howard as a sideline reporter.

Royals.TV will be available on many cable and satellite providers, although the Royals have not announced which ones. They are offering the service as a direct-to-consumer platform as well, available for fans inside the Royals’ home television territory for $19.99 per-month or $99.99 per year. Out-of-market fans can watch Royals games with an MLB.TV subscription for $149.99 per year. You can find more information on how to watch here with a map of the Royals in-market TV territory.

You can also watch two more spring training games for free at Royals.TV – the March 13 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the March 17 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.