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Frankie Montas will likely be one of the few bright spots for the Athletics in 2022.
The Oakland Athletics always seem to find a way to defy expectations, but after losing Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and other key pieces in the offseason, it’s clear the A’s are leaning into a massive rebuild in 2022.
In 2022, most Athletics games will be locally televised on NBC Sports California, while others may be nationally televised on MLB Network (those ones will also be on NBC Sports California), ESPN, ESPN2, Fox or Fox Sports 1.
If you don’t have cable, here are some different ways you can watch every Athletics game live online in 2022, including options for both in-market and out-of-market viewers:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
If You’re in the Athletics Market
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of NBC Sports California, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, MLB Network and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV. You’ll need to include the “Sports Plus” add-on for MLB Network, but NBC Sports California and the others are included in the main channel package, and you can include any add-ons you want with your free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Athletics games live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN, ESPN2, Fox and FS1 are included in every one, while NBC Sports California and MLB Network are in “Choice” and up, but you can pick any package and any add-ons you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Athletics games live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream comes with unlimited cloud DVR recordings.
If You’re Out of the Athletics Market
Amazon Prime’s MLB.TV Channel
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB game via Prime Channels.
The MLB.TV channel costs either $24.99 per month to watch every out-of-market game (“All Team Pass”) or $109.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Athletics games (“Single Team Pass”), but either option comes with a free seven-day trial:
MLB.TV Amazon Prime Free Trial
Once you’re signed up for the Prime MLB.TV Channel, out-of-market viewers can watch Athletics games live on the Prime Video app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, various smart TV’s, Xiaomi, Echo Show or Echo Spot, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. You can also watch on your computer via the Amazon website.
If you can’t watch live, all games are available on-demand by the next day.
MLB.TV
This is ultimately the same as the Amazon Prime option above, only you’ll watch games on MLB’s digital platforms instead of Amazon’s.
You can watch all out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLB games via MLB.TV. It costs $24.99 per month or $129.99 for the year to watch every out-of-market game, or $109.99 for the year to just watch out-of-market Athletics games. The monthly and yearly all-team options include a free seven-day trial (the single-team option does not):
Once signed up for MLB.TV, out-of-market viewers can watch Athletics games live on the MLB TV app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, various Smart TV’s, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. You can also watch on your computer via the MLB.TV website.
If you can’t watch live, all games are available on-demand by the next day.
ESPN+
This isn’t going to be an option to watch many Athletics games, but if you’re looking for a cheap way to watch a random MLB game daily, ESPN+ includes at least one out-of-market game every day during the regular season:
In addition to one live MLB game every day, ESPN+ also has dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) all for $6.99 per month.
Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total $20.97 per month, so you’re saving about 33 percent:
Get the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu Bundle
Once signed up for ESPN+, out-of-market viewers can watch select MLB games live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Athletics Season Preview 2022
Oakland missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. Despite an 86-76 record in 2021, the A’s are bringing in a youth movement and trading away players now to be able to get maximum value in the long term. Time will tell if this strategy will work, but the moves will have to contribute sooner rather than later.
The issue is that many of the investments that they made during this time are not quite ready for the majors and they will have to wait until 2023 to start seeing some sort of return on them.
That being said, they will look to give a couple of players a chance this coming season. One of them is third baseman Kevin Smith. Smith came up last year with the Toronto Blue Jays and was part of the trade that saw Matt Chapman go in the opposite direction. He did not impress during that time going 3-for-32, yet he showed a nice power-speed combo in Triple-A. The conditions in place will allow for him to get some time in the hot corner, which could be a great experience for him, although there will be knocks along the way.
Another player that will get some playing time is outfielder Cristián Paché. The newly acquired centerfielder will likely start for the A’s this year from the beginning. The issue is that Paché also underwhelmed in his brief time in the majors going 7-for-63 last year with the Braves.
All these factors put into place, the final answer is that A’s fans will have to be very patient. One has to also consider that the AL West is more competitive with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners improving and the Los Angeles Angels hoping at least for a healthy season.
The Houston Astros are still tough despite losing Carlos Correa in the off-season. It is possible that Oakland picked a good time to reset the clock for the franchise. They honestly weren’t looked at when it comes to competing in the pennant race this season and with a new manager, reshuffling the deck is not a bad option. The A’s will likely finish in last place this year but could move up in 2023 or 2024 depending on how their acquisitions turn out.
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