Blue Jays fans have an advantage to watching their team this summer

The seemingly never-ending battle for sports broadcast rights and places to watch games has yet again permeated the MLB sphere. Fans of some teams have previously had to navigate difficult blackout restrictions and/or additional fees to simply watch their favourite (and often local) teams and it's just become more difficult.

However, Toronto Blue Jays fans in Canada need not be concerned, as a simple subscription to Sportsnet will garner you nearly all of the Blue Jays' baseball games aside from the handful set to be broadcast on Apple TV+ as they have done in recent years.

Blue Jays fans have an advantage to watching their team this summer

The New ESPN/MLB.tv Package

Keep in mind, none of this is being said to slight any teams or their fans impacted by this change, but rather to highlight the relative ease that Blue Jays fans will have in accessing and enjoying their home team's games.

If you were choosing the 2026 season as your first year to get into watching baseball, it'll be a little tougher on your wallet than in previous years. An MLB.tv subscription costs $150 per year, $135 for existing ESPN subscribers, and this is a hefty price on its own but an avid baseball fan could put aside the price to enjoy watching MLB games at their leisure.

However, this price is bundled with an additional $30/month subscription that just represents yet another wall between baseball fans and watching their teams. Baseball, like every professional sport, is a business, and it's understandable that watching these official broadcasts comes at a price, but it's tough on fans when they have to jump through hoops.

Blue Jays fans have to contend with much fewer subscriptions and although it still costs a pretty penny, there's virtually only one place you need to worry about finding your Blue Jays games.

Previous Blackout Restriction Problems

It's become increasingly more frequent in recent years for fans of certain teams to face blackout restrictions preventing them from watching their local or favourite teams. For instance, baseball fans in Las Vegas are blacked out from watching broadcasts for the Diamondbacks, Athletics, Angels, Dodgers, Padres, and Giants.

It's interesting to note the Athletics here, as they are literally moving to Las Vegas, and they're playing 2026 MLB games in Vegas as a preview to the team's presence in the city. What kind of tone does this set for fans looking forward to seeing their future team?

The Blue Jays are blacked out on MLB.tv due to Sportsnet's ownership rights, but this isn't much of a concern to Blue Jays fans for the most part. If you're an avid baseball follower and you want to watch the rest of the league and MLB.tv subscription gives you the rest of the teams' access.

It's not the worst thing in the world to have your team on multiple channels and broadcast locations, but it's just cumbersome to deal with. In a time where it seems like everything is locked behind a paywall of some sort, it's just tougher on the average fan to consume MLB content. The Blue Jays have made it a bit easier than many other fanbases in this area, so fret not Canadian baseball fans.

Broadcast Location Confusion

MLB has reached agreements with NBC, ESPN, FOX, Apple TV+, and even Netflix for broadcasting rights in 2026 and beyond, and this just makes it harder and more expensive for fans to watch all of their teams' games. For Blue Jays fans, this gets a bit easier, thankfully.

Sportsnet is the home of the Blue Jays, and they have the broadcasting rights to the majority of Toronto's games. The only other place you'll have to contend with a subscription for to watch the Blue Jays is Apple TV+, as they'll get a handful of Jays games throughout the season.

The Blue Jays will be one of the marquee teams to watch in 2026 as the reigning AL Champions, and Sportsnet is the place to watch them. For the average Blue Jays fan, this is a lof more accessible and simpler than signing up for several subscriptions across various platforms in order to watch every game your team plays in 2026.

The Sportsnet broadcast has always been touted as one of the league's best, and even following the retirement of long-time broadcaster Buck Martinez, the channel is still the welcome home of the Blue Jays. Dan Shulman, Hazel Mae, and the rest of the Sportsnet crew is beloved among Canadian baseball fans so this is a definite benefit for the Blue Jays and their supporters.