Cubs Remain Huge Draw for MLB’s National Television Contracts

The Chicago Cubs will make several national television networks their home away from home for broadcasts in 2026.

With the announcements of the schedules for Fox, FS1 and TBS, Chicago is finding that it will be making more than a dozen appearances on national television in 2026 as part of MLB’s partnerships with those networks. The league also has national television deals with NBC/Peacock, ESPN and Netflix.

Any Cubs games not carried on a national network will be broadcast on Marquee Sports.

Chicago Cubs 2026 National TV Games

Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman watches a Chicago Blackhawks game in a Blackhawks jersey. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Fox will be the home for eight Cubs games, most of which will be part of the network’s Saturday’s package. The first game will be on April 4 in Cleveland against the Guardians at 6 p.m. central.

The rest of the Fox games include:

April 13: at Philadelphia, 5:30 p.m., FS1

April 25: at Los Angeles Dodgers, 6 p.m., Fox

May 30: at St. Louis, 6 p.m., Fox

July 4: vs. St. Louis, 7 p.m., Fox

Aug. 1: vs. New York Yankees, 6 p.m., Fox

Aug. 31: vs. Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m., FS1

Sept. 26: at Boston, 6 p.m., Fox

TBS announced the first half of its games with MLB earlier this week. Those contests are shown on Tuesdays. Chicago will play its first game on the network on April 14 at Philadelphia, with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. The other broadcast will be June 23 when the Cubs visit the New York Mets at 6 p.m.

Pete Crow-Armstrong | Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Earlier this month NBC/Peacock announced its schedules. The network is taking over the Sunday Night package from ESPN and the Sunday Leadoff package, which was exclusively streamed on Roku last season. The Cubs won’t appear on the Leadoff package, which will be exclusively streamed on Peacock.

But Chicago will play on Sunday Night — May 31 at St. Louis at 6 p.m., June 7 at home against San Francisco at 7 p.m., and Aug. 30 at home against Cincinnati at 2 p.m. All three games will be on NBC and streamed on Peacock.

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ESPN has a 30-game package and has only announced a handful of games. Two Cubs games will be on ABC — June 14 at San Francisco and Aug. 16 at home against St. Louis.

Chicago is preparing to head to Mesa, Ariz., for spring training next month. The biggest draw will be new third baseman Alex Bregman, who signed a multi-year deal with the Cubs earlier this month.

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