Braves Hammer Out More TV Deals Hours Before Opening Day

NOTE: This article was recently updated to include another TV provider that was announced by the Braves.

The Atlanta Braves continue to work on getting BravesVision to the largest audience possible ahead of opening day. They announced Friday afternoon that they have reached multi-year agreements with Fubo and DirecTV.

Opening day will be available through both providers despite the deal coming hours before first pitch. It will be available to FuboTV and DirecTV subscribers in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and western North Carolina.

BravesVision will be available on DirecTV on channel 645 and on the U-verse channel 1730.

This is the third major distributor to be announced. Spectrum and Xfinity have already been announced this week. We can expect more options to be announced as they come. Major TV providers, such as Hulu and YouTubeTV, do not have Braves vision, at least yet.

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 Fubo, Xfinity, DirecTV and Spectrum, the Braves now list "multiple providers throughout Braves Country."

The Braves listed following smaller providers as options on their channel guide:

Absolute Cable TV
Ben Lomand Connect
CNSNext
Comporium
Dalton Utilities
Darien Telephone Company
EPB Fi TV
ETC
FTC
HomeTel
HTC
Jackson Energy Authority
Pine Belt Communications
Pineland
PRTC
Twin Lakes

BravesVision will launch its regular season broadcast starting at 6 p.m. on Friday with the pregame show, “Braves On Deck,” with a 7:15 p.m. first pitch to follow.

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 on national television, including Fox and 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-controlled 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."

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.