Mariners ridiculously still have major TV question 1 week from Opening Day

By now, anyone who prefers to stream Seattle Mariners games should know about the team's new streaming service. Those who prefer traditional TV platforms, however, still don't know how they'll be watching games this year.

In case anyone missed it, ROOT Sports is gone and Major League Baseball is in charge of distributing Mariners broadcasts. The actual broadcast crew isn't going to change, and we do know that there's going to be some kind of "Mariners TV" channel.

Yet even with less than a week left to go until Opening Day, details on exactly what's going on with that channel are still hazy.

Mariners TV is still a mystery box less than a week before March 26 opener

Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reported on the TV situation last week, noting that viewers who watched games via ROOT Sports are going to get access to a Mariners TV channel in 2026. Still unknown, though, are two things:

• What channel it will be for various providers, such as Comcast Xfinity, DirecTV and Spectrum
• Whether there will be an extra cost on top of existing subscription plans

The holdup apparently has to do with MLB, which is still negotiating with providers about rights fees. Divish has since said more on X, noting that there might not be clarity until Opening Day and that the Mariners are just as frustrated by the situation as everyone else.

As for why MLB is taking its sweet time, one wonders if distraction has something to do with it. The league has been cutting rights deals all over the place, whether we're talking broadcasting agreements with Netflix or an exclusive partnership with Polymarket, the prediction market platform — that one rightfully has people spooked, by the way.

Otherwise, Divish is probably right that the league is taking its time because it can.

MLB has a hot product to offer, and can thus turn the screw for maximum rights fees. And besides, MLB fans are basically a captive audience. There are obviously other entertainment options, but MLB is the only game in town when it comes to baseball in North America.

Granted, there is going to be a resolution to all this. And come Thursday, anyone who wants to watch the Mariners in 2026 will be able to do so. Some might take a minute to catch up, but nobody will be left behind.

Even so, MLB isn't exactly pushing back against the narrative that games have become too hard to watch. And given that Mariners fans have never been hungrier to watch their team, the limbo that TV viewers are in right now is just not cool.