Braves, Another TV Provider Reach Agreement Before Opening Day

The Atlanta Braves lock down another carrier for their new network, BravesVision. They announced Thursday afternoon that they have reached an agreement with Xfinity to carry it. It will be available in time for opening day on Friday.

Unlike with the Spectrum agreement, which requires checking local listings, all fans can go to the same channel number. It will be on channel 1254, and it will be available in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and western North Carolina.

For those who don't have a cable package or any potential distributor, an alternative option is the previously announced streaming option. There are seasonal or monthly payment options, and it can be bundled with MLB.tv.

Select games, including opening day, will still be over-the-air (OTA) on broadcast television. These games will be on the local Gray Media stations. In Atlanta, this is Peachtree TV, the local CW channel. A major pitch by the team has been that there are no blackout restrictions.

Other distributors are expected to be announced. Along with Xfinity and Spectrum, the Braves now list "multiple providers throughout Braves Country." It is unclear which providers they are at this time. As deals are hammered out, they'll likely be specified.

Should there be a situation where a TV provider does not have BravesVision by opening day, the suggested option is Peachtree TV, the Gray Media station.

BravesVision was announced last month, early in spring training. There will be 140 games aired on the new network this season. Other games will air elsewhere on national television, including NBC. The Braves are part of the Sunday Night Baseball lineup.

"We're actually, in many ways, returning to what we did really well for years and years," Schiller said. "Our last Braves controled broadcast, where we didn't have an intermediary, some other company involved, was about 18 years ago when the TBS superstation broadcast their last Braves game."

BravesVision will launch it's regular season broadcast starting at 6 p.m. with the pregame show, “Braves On Deck,” with opening day following with a 7:15 p.m. first pitch.

The Braves previously had their games on the FanDuel Sports Network, previously known as Fox Sports and Bally Sports. They, along with eight other MLB teams, terminated their deals with Main Street Sports Group, the owner of the regional sports networks, after a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals was missed.