The NL Central race could come down to the final game of the regular season in St. Louis between the Cubs and Cardinals.
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The NL Central is still up for grabs. The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are battling for the division crown, with the Milwaukee Brewers still hanging on in the race, despite losing reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich for the season. The NL Central pennant race could very well come down to the final day of the regular season. The Cubs and Cards have seven games remaining against one another, starting with a four-game series this weekend in Chicago followed by three games next weekend in St. Louis to wrap up the regular season.
Cubs and Cards fans who also happen to be cable TV cord cutters have a number of ways to watch the two teams battle down the stretch.
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Stream the Cubs or Cards locally
Cubs games are shown on NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-TV and ABC 7 in the Chicago market. Cards games are shown on Fox Sports Midwest (FSMW) in the St. Louis market. Two of the seven games left between the two clubs will be broadcast nationally on Fox.
Here’s the schedule of the two remaining series between the Cubs and Cards:
- Thursday, Sept. 19: Cards at Cubs, 6:15 p.m. CT on Fox
- Friday, Sept. 20: Cards at Cubs, 1:20 p.m. CT on ABC7/FSMW
- Saturday, Sept. 21: Cards at Cubs, 1:20 p.m. CT on WGN/FSMW
- Sunday, Sept. 22: Cards at Cubs, 1:20 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago/FSMW
- Friday, Sept. 27: Cubs at Cards, 7:15 p.m. CT on WGN/FSMW
- Saturday, Sept. 28: Cubs at Cards, 6:15 p.m. CT on Fox
- Sunday, Sept. 29: Cubs at Cards, 2:15 p.m. CT on ABC7/FSMW
All of the major live TV streaming services, starting with Sling TV for just $25 per month, offer NBC Sports Chicago, but only some offer ABC 7 and none offer WGN-TV. All of the major streaming services offer Fox Sports Midwest.
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NBC Sports Chicago and Fox Sports Midwest is included in Sling TV’s $25-a-month Blue package, but no Sling package offers ABC 7. (The plan is currently discounted to $15 a month for the first month.) You can check to see if you live in the right market for your local baseball broadcasts here.
For baseball national broadcasts, Sling TV’s Orange plan includes ESPN and ESPN2, and the Blue plan includes Fox and FS1. Both plans offer TBS. The MLB Network is available as part of the Sports Extra add-on, which costs $5 a month for Sling Orange customers or $10 a month for Sling Blue customers.
Hulu with Live TV costs $45 a month and includes NBC Sports Chicago and ABC 7 for the Chicago market and Fox Sport Midwest in St. Louis. Click the “View all channels in your area” link on its welcome page to see what local channels are offered in your zip code. For national broadcasts, Hulu with Live TV offers ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1 and TBS but not MLB Network.
YouTube TV costs $50 a month and includes NBC Sports Chicago and ABC 7 for local Cubs fans and Fox Sports Midwest for local Cards fans. It also includes the channels that carry national baseball broadcasts: ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and TBS. Plug in your zip code on its welcome page to see if NBC Sports Chicago, ABC 7 and Fox Sports Midwest are available in your area.
AT&T TV Now’s $50-a-month Plus package includes NBC Sports Chicago, ABC 7 and Fox Sports Midwest. It also includes ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1 and TBS for national broadcasts, but not the MLB Network. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live.
PlayStation Vue’s $55-a-month Core plan includes NBC Sports Chicago, ABC 7 and Fox Sports Midwest. The Core plan also includes ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and TBS for national broadcasts. You can see if NBC Sports Chicago, ABC 7 and Fox Sports Midwest are available in your area here.
FuboTV costs $55 per month and includes NBC Sports Chicago for the local Chicago market, but it doesn’t have ABC 7. It also offers Fox, FS1 and TBS for national broadcasts, but not ESPN, ESPN2 or MLB Network.
All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our massive streaming services guide
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Out-of-market streaming
If you’re a Cubs fan living outside of the Chicago area or a Cards fan no longer living in St. Loius, then you can’t watch the Cubbies on one of the local Chicago channels or the Cards on Fox Sports Midwest. You can, however, stream their games live with an MLB.TV subscription.
You’ve got two options:
- Pay $27 for the rest of the season to watch every out-of-market game live or on-demand, and the in-market (home) team with a 90-minute delay from the end of the game.
- Pay $16 for the rest of the season to watch a single, out-of-market team. In this case, your Chicago Cubs or your St. Louis Cardinals and nobody else.
Both MLB.TV plans also include streams of home and away radio broadcasts. The radio broadcasts aren’t subject to the blackout rule, so you can listen to home team games live.
Read more: How to watch baseball without cable for the 2019 MLB season