Giants Showdown with Cubs Moved to Exclusive ABC Afternoon Game

Major League Baseball’s new television deals have had another impact on the San Francisco Giants’ 2026 schedule.

A general view of Oracle Park before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are now set to have a regular-season game on ABC in June when they host the Chicago Cubs.

The contest, set for June 14 at Oracle Park, is set for 12:10 p.m. local time and is the first of three afternoon games that will air on ABC as part of new rights agreements signed by Major League Baseball last season.

The three games are part of ESPN’s package of games. The other two will be June 27, when the Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees, and Aug. 16, when the Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals. The three games will also be available on the ESPN app.

San Francisco Giants on TV in 2026

ESPN announces 3 marquee 2026 #MLB regular-season weekend games airing exclusively on ABC
 
🗓️ June 14: Cubs vs Giants
🗓️ June 27: Yankees vs Red Sox 
🗓️ Aug. 16: Cardinals vs Cubs
 
Details: https://t.co/cT9SI7SbuR pic.twitter.com/fR056L54ag

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 21, 2026

San Francisco is already set to be in MLB’s debut game of the season on March 25 when they host the New York Yankees at Oracle Park. That game is part of the new Netflix package. The streaming service won the rights to the opening game, along with the All-Star Game’s home run derby and the Field of Dreams game, which is set for August in Dyersville, Iowa.

Most Giants regular-season games will continue to be broadcast locally on NBC Sports Bay Area. When the Giants have a national game, the outlet will be determined by the deal MLB has signed.

NBC is now the home of Sunday Night Baseball — which was previously the package designated to ESPN. NBC will also air the Wild Card Series and select special event games, including primetime matchups on Opening Day and Labor Day. NBC and Peacock will also get the rights to the Sunday Leadoff game.

San Francisco has two games on national TV as part of the package — June 7 at the Chicago Cubs and Aug. 23 at Boston.

ESPN now has a national midweek game package, which will be available on linear cable and its app. For Giants fans that are out-of-market, the big news was that ESPN became the exclusive rightsholder to MLB.TV, which broadcasts thousands of local games to out-of-market fans each season.

Other rightsholders include Fox and FS1, which will remain the home of Saturday afternoon and evening games during the regular season, along with World Series, League Championship Series and Division Series.

TBS retains its role as a broadcaster of LCS and Division Series telecasts, plus regular season games on Tuesday nights. Apple TV will retain the Friday night doubleheaders.

San Francisco fired manager Bob Melvin after the season and hired Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to be the new manager. Vitello and president of baseball operations Buster Posey have been working to assemble his first start, many of which have connections to Vitello’s college career but have pro experience.