Where to watch MLB (and more baseball) in Australia

Of the ball-hitting sports in Australia, cricket has everything pegged. Still, baseball is a growing sport both for players and those keen to watch the game played at its highest level. While you can find baseball on some of the best sports streaming services in Australia, there are options for watching homegrown matches as well as some of the biggest leagues from around the world. Basically, if you want to stream baseball, we’ve got all your main bases covered.

While there aren’t any free streaming options for American baseball in Australia, there are multiple choices. The US-based Major League Baseball (MLB) is the big one to watch. You can catch MLB matches on Kayo Sports or via Foxtel Now with the Sport add-on. Foxtel Now costs $54 a month with Sport (two HD streams), or it’s a $25 monthly fee for Kayo One (one HD stream) or $35 for Kayo Basic (two 4K streams).

But that’s not the only way to watch MLB with an Australian streaming service. In 2022, Apple TV Plus added Friday Night Baseball to its content offering, which translates to a couple of MLB games on Saturday mornings (because of the US time difference). Apple TV Plus has a seven-day trial and then it’s $9.99 per month thereafter.

Alternatively, watch ESPN sports including MLB on Fetch TV. Outside of initial setup costs, either pay $6 per month for the Fetch TV Vibe Pack or $20 per month for the Ultimate Pack to catch MLB and other American sports. Look at NBN providers like Aussie Broadband, iPrimus, iiNetand Internode if you’d like to bundle Fetch TV with an NBN plan.

If you prefer local matches, you’ll want a subscription to OnDemand to watch Australian Baseball League (ABL) bouts. Match replays, at the very least, are available for free. When I signed up for an account, there was mention of a subscription required to watch live matches, but there weren’t any payment details I could access. If you are asked for a registration code at sign-up, the official ABL website advises using ‘BaseballAustralia’ for free access.

There are more MLB streaming options to access from Australia if you use a virtual private network (VPN) service. The big one in the US is MLB.tv, which offers easy streaming for the entire MLB season. You’re looking at US$24.99 a month for all teams or US$139.99 for the year, otherwise it’s US$119.99 per year for a single team. This is the best way to avoid coverage blackouts that are unfortunately common with US sports.

Before signing up, you’ll want to use a US VPN server, then connect whenever you’re streaming a match to avoid geoblocks. Here’s a list of the VPNs I’ve reviewed that work great with US streaming:

• Windscribe VPN
• ExpressVPN
• NordVPN
• Proton VPN
• VPN Unlimited

After a six-year hiatus, the World Baseball Classic struck back in March 2023. The next one isn’t happening until 2026. For highlights and select match replays, head to the official World Baseball Classic YouTube channel. The 2023 World Baseball Classic matches were shown live on Prime Video Japan and Hulu with the Live TV add-on.

To access Hulu + Live TV content from Australia, here’s a list of VPNs that offer speedy streaming with the US-based streaming service:

• Windscribe
• ExpressVPN
• PureVPN
• NordVPN
• Proton VPN
• IPVanish VPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Private Internet Access VPN
• VPN Unlimited
• Surfshark VPN
• TunnelBear VPN

Japan won the 2023 World Baseball Classic, so it should come as no surprise that baseball is a big deal in that part of the world. Pacific League TV is a Japanese streaming service for the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, but the site and match commentary are in Japanese. There’s a great guide on Reddit for accessing NPB matches.

This Reddit guide mentions that you can watch one NPB game for free on the English Pacific League YouTube channel (with English commentary). The other outlet worth trying for NPB matches is a DAZN subscription via a Japanese VPN server.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League is another popular global baseball league, with matches played in South Korea. According to a handy Reddit guide, full match replays and highlights are available for free viewing on the KBO Naver TV website (albeit site and commentary are in Korean). That Reddit page also outlines live options, including Twitch channels for live matches, but they only work if you’re connected to a Korean VPN server while viewing.

The easiest way to stream World Series Baseball in Australia is to tune in to ESPN. Alternatively, use one of the VPNs listed above to access non-Australian sports streaming services. To stream ESPN in Australia, go with either Foxtel Now with the Sport add-on, Kayo Sports or Fetch TV with the Vibe or Ultimate Packs. Stream World Series Baseball each year at the end of the regular MLB season.

Interested to see how the streaming services above stack up against the competition? Take a look at the table below for a comparison of your streaming options in Australia.