T-Mobile renewed its sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball for three more years, the wireless carrier announced today. And as part of the deal, T-Mobile subscribers are getting free access to the league’s premium streaming network.
For the next year, T-Mobile Simple Choice customers can access MLB.TV’s premium subscription service for free. Users will have to sign up during Opening Week, April 3–10, but streaming games don’t count against their data plan thanks to T-Mobile’s Binge On program.
“For the last three years MLB has been with us every step of the way as we have rewritten the rules of wireless. This year we’re doubling down—and expanding the relationship even further to include the Home Run Derbies and free MLB.TV for customers,” said T-Mobile CEO John Legere.
The MLB.TV premium subscription lets users stream out-of-market regular season games on T-Mobile devices. Users will have to sign up on a device connected to the T-Mobile, but once activated, can use the subscription on any compatible device.
The subscription comes with free access to the premium version of the MLB At Bat app on iOS and Android as well, which lets users view home or away broadcasts, multi-game viewing and access to all kinds of MLB news. However, T-Mobile users won’t be able to catch the spring training games available through the app, since signups don’t open until Opening Day of the regular season.
The promotion is similar to one offered in past seasons, when T-Mobile customers also got free access to the premium version of the At Bat app. The app has improved since then as more users have switched away from traditional TV packages. In fact, the MLB.TV team is so good at streaming now that HBO tasked them with building a streaming app for its own premium cable network.
Starting April 3, users can sign up on T-Mobile’s dedicated MLB page. The T-Mobile sponsorship will extend for the next three years, and while the company says that includes “three more years of fan perks,” only this year’s perks were announced.
Update 2:10 p.m.: Updated to clarify signup process and that a subscription to MLB.TV works on all compatible devices.
