It’s been two years since the Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants and won the World Series in 2016. Last year they tried to recreate the magic that made them champions but fell short. Could this year’s team, that began the season with Ian Happ hitting a home run on the opening pitch, go all the way?
Following your favorite baseball team throughout a whole season can be quite difficult if you want to catch every game. Even with an expensive cable TV subscription you still might not be able to see all of the games due to MLB blackouts. Whether you’re a cord cutter without a premium cable package or a baseball fan living outside of the US, this guide will show you how you can live stream every game this season on all of your favorite devices.
Below, you’ll find our quick and easy guide to live stream all of the Chicago Cubs games from anywhere in the world. We’ll point you towards all of the different ways you can legally stream this season’s games in the US and if you’re outside the country we’ll walk you through the process of setting up a VPN so that you can watch Major League Baseball from anywhere in the world.
How to stream the Cubs live online
When it comes to streaming baseball online, your first choice has to be MLB.TV. Not only does it have the most extensive game coverage, but the devices it supports are really varied, too.
You can watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV. Or if you prefer to see the games in HD you can view them on demand. MLB.TV’s out-of-market yearly packages are the best for value and you can choose whether you want to watch all the teams in the league for $115.99 a year or just follow a single team for $89.99 a year.
MLB.TV works on all of the most popular streaming devices including Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Playstation 4 and many others so you’ll never miss a game no matter where you are.
Stream the Cubs in Chicago, during blackout games and outside the US
If there is no official broadcast option in your country or a game is not playing locally on MLB.TV due to an MLB blackout, you'll need to use a VPN to dial in to a location in the US that does have coverage. A VPN is perfect for this as it allows you to change your IP address so you appear to be in a completely different location. We've tested hundreds of VPNs and can recommend these as the best three VPNs currently available:
If you live in Chicago and don't want to pay for local cable television just to watch some baseball, catching the Cubs live is made very difficult for you. Because the MLB agrees exclusive rights for those stations, MLB.TV can't broadcast as the action happens. You have to settle to watch the game 90 minutes after it ends.
But using a VPN is a handy -and legal - way around this. Once you've signed up to an MLB subscription, grab one of our recommended VPNs and log in. Then use a server in another state and watch those Cubs try to recreate the magic of 16!
Other ways to watch the Chicago Cubs online
MLB.TV won't be for everyone. If you want a paid option that includes other television and sports, then going for a more all-encompassing plan might be better for you. Below are some other options to consider.
But remember that the same applies if you're trying to watch the Cubs within Chicago or are trying to watch a blackout game - you'll need a VPN to do so, so check out how to do that above.
Thanks to a deal between Facebook and Major League Baseball, you can stream 25 afternoon games in the US for free right from the social network. All of the games will take place on weekday afternoons (primarily on Wednesdays) at the MLB Facebook page, but this is a free option that gives you a taste of what it’s like to be able to stream MLB games from your browser.
Following in Facebook's footsteps, Twitter has the right to live stream an MLB game every week during the regular season. Again, these will be on weekday afternoons. Unfortunately the Cubs are not on the schedule for April but they will be later on in the season. You can check out the all the upcoming games at live.twitter.com/MLB.
ESPN+
ESPN+ will offer fans a dynamic lineup of live sports, high-quality original shows and films, exclusive studio programs and an unmatched on-demand library. And it's really cheap, costing only $4.99 per month.
When it comes to MLB, ESPN+ features one MLB game each day, seven days per week throughout the MLB regular season. That means it won't be the most comprehensive option for Cubs obsessives. But if you’re interested in following the MLB as a whole and want to catch up with other big games, than this service could be a good fit.
The best of the rest for streaming the Cubs:
- DIRECTV NOW $50 per month - DIRECTV NOW gives users all the channels needed to watch MLB online and also comes with some extra channels as well. If you want a lot of content to choose from and don’t mind watching the games live as the service doesn’t include cloud DVR, then DIRECTV NOW’s 7-day trial will let you test out the platform.
- Sling TV $40 per month - Sling TV is an inexpensive way to watch baseball though you’ll be missing out on games shown on the MLB Network. The service splits its content into two different TV packages which does make things cheaper though to stream MLB you’ll need to sign up for both. Sling TV is compatible with Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, Chromecast as well as lots of other devices and its easy to get started with a 7-day free trial.
- fuboTV $19.99 for the first month - fuboTV has a low introductory price though after that the price goes up to $44.99 a month and includes 70 channels. Unfortunately it does not have ESPN, MLB Network or TBS though it does offer strong local coverage and 30 hours of cloud DVR storage. fuboTV does has a 7-day trial available so you can test out its functionality for yourself.
