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United States

U.S.A. MLB Blackout map

All of the Contiguous United States, except for some small, remote, isolated patches, are within at least one team's blackout territory. Some areas may lie within the territories of two or more. As the accompanying map shows, teams generally have exclusive territorial rights only over their home cities' immediate area, but even then there are exceptions. For example, all of Texas, including the Houston metropolitan area as well as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as the entire state of Louisiana, is within both the Astros' and Rangers' blackout areas.

Outside of the immediate area, several teams may exercise blackout rights within the same territory. The entire state of Iowa, for example, is within the blackout areas of the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals, and Royals. Southern Nevada likewise lies within six MLB teams' blackout territories (Athletics, Giants, Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks). Areas of far western Kansas and the Nebraska panhandle represent an anomaly; although being geographically closer to Denver than Kansas City, they are included in the blackout territory for the Royals and not the Rockies. This is likely a remnant of pre-1993 territorial exclusions, since the Royals were the only team between Kansas City and California, except for the Astros and Rangers, between 1969 and 1992. A similar anomaly is that the El Paso area in Texas is not within the blackout territory of the Arizona Diamondbacks, despite El Paso being considerably closer to Phoenix than to either Texas-based MLB team (the New Mexico side of the El Paso area, by contrast, is within the D-Backs' blackout zone). This is also likely a remnant of territorial exclusions predating the D-Backs' 1998 entry into MLB.

MLB relies on ZIP code prefixes (the first three digits of a ZIP code) to determine its blackout areas. For some areas in the West Valley of greater Phoenix, the ZIP code prefix is 853. Because of this, a fan that resides within 10 miles of Chase Field will be blacked out of all online San Diego Padres games. It's likely this is a remnant of the Padres' former blackout territory; prior to the Diamondbacks' arrival, all of Arizona was included in the Padres' blackout territory.

Local broadcasts are not necessarily available in the whole blackout territory. For example, Bally Sports Wisconsin is unavailable in Iowa, so Milwaukee Brewers games are unavailable in the state.

Due to the fact that they play in Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays do not have any part of their blackout territory in the United States.

Changes due to 2012 MLB/ESPN deal

A new contract between ESPN and Major League Baseball in 2012 virtually eliminated local blackouts involving the network's Monday and Wednesday night games, allowing ESPN coverage to co-exist with that of the local broadcasters in home markets. The agreement took effect at the start of the 2014 season.

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United States (new)

U.S.A. MLB Blackout map

Almost every part of the Contiguous United States, has at least one team they are blacked out from watching. Some even have two or more teams they cannot watch. As the map shows, every teams has its local area blackout. However they also have, sometimes, several surrounding states that are also blacked out. For example, Kansas City Royals are blacked out from view in the state of Missouri (except in the St. Louis metro area), Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Iowa.

Outside of the "home" market most teams also impose blackout restrictions and the worse reciever of this is the state of Iowa, who is blocked from six teams; Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, Twins, and the White Sox. Even though they are all a multi-hour drive to see any of the game is person. Local broadcasts are not necessarily available in the whole blackout territory. For example, Bally Sports Wisconsin is unavailable in Iowa, so Milwaukee Brewers games are unavailable in the state. So not only can Iowa not get the Brewers on local channels, they also can't get them on streaming due to being "in the market".

Due to the fact that they play in Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays do not have any part of their blackout territory in the United States.

Changes due to 2012 MLB/ESPN deal

A new contract between ESPN and Major League Baseball in 2012 virtually eliminated local blackouts involving the network's Monday and Wednesday night games, allowing ESPN coverage to co-exist with that of the local broadcasters in home markets. The agreement took effect at the start of the 2014 season.

Apple TV Deal

In March of 2022 MLB and Apple signed a sever streaming deal worth $85 million annually. Through this streaming deal, Apple will broadcast a doubleheader every Friday, during the regular season on their streaming platform Apple TV+.

Bally Sports bankruptcy (new)

Due to the parent company of the Bally Regional Sports network, Diamond Sports Group, applying for bankruptcy, there have been calls to end the blackout rule so the local fans can no longer rely on only cable providers to watch their teams games.