MLB Extra Innings on DIRECTV and DISH

It's baseball season. That means freshly cut grass, expensive drinks, and the sounds of America's pastime - at least for those who can actually make it to the games. For everyone else, there's the MLB Extra Innings plan from DIRECTV and DISH. With Extra Innings, you get access to every single game. Period. The best part is the prices aren't over the top and even those on a budget usually find it a great value.

But what's the best bang for your buck? Both DIRECTV and DISH offer competitive pricing so things are pretty close there. What it may boil down to is which service you already have (or are otherwise considering). First things first, let's cover the basics...

Key Features

The flagship feature of MLB Extra Innings (MLBEI) is that you get access to 100 out-of-market games each and every week with DIRECTV, sometimes more. DISH's website mentions 80, but you'll get to watch the same amount of games (feeds come direct from MLB so the coverage is identical).

Overall, and as with most sports, DISH still playing catch-up when it comes to perks and extras. As of this writing, there are a couple features you'll get with DIRECTV that you won't with DISH:

• Preview up to 8 games at once. The Game Mix channel lets you view eight live games at once. Highlighting a game will bring up the audio. One click and you can view the game.
• MLB Strike Zone at no extra cost. This is simply a highlight look at every MLB game throughout the season. It features live look-ins, continual updates and much more.

Who Should Get MLB Extra Innings?

There's no grey area here. The MLB Extra Innings package is perfect for folks that love the game and don't want to miss a second of the action. It's also great for those of you who have moved to a new city but don't want to miss your home team play.

Pricing (for 2024 season)

With DIRECTV, you have a couple options:

• $24.99 a month for 6 months
• $149.99 in one lump payment

You also get free access to MLB.tv (online streaming via your phone, tablet, etc.), Game Mix and the Strike Zone channel. The MLB Network channel is available to subscribers of the Choice plan and up, whether you have MLB Extra Innings or not.

DISH basically offers the same rate in different options:

• $37.50 a month for 4 months
• $149.00 in one lump payment

MLB.tv is included free. The Strike Zone channel is only available via their Multi-Sport Pack ($13/mo). The MLB Network is included in the Multi-Sport Pack OR on America's Top 200 and up. By the way, the Multi-Sport pack also gives you access to the NFL RedZone, NFL Network, NBA TV, Pac-12 Networks and more, so it's an extremely cool package for big-time sports fans.

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, it's a tight race but we give the slight edge to DIRECTV. Both give you access to every MLB game of the season - about 2,500 total - and offer similar pricing structures (DISH's monthly is 2 months less). While DISH offers the Strike Zone channel for an additional $13/month, that pack also gives you access to college football, NBA games, and more. DIRECTV has the 8-channel preview and you get every other MLB-affiliated channel with the Extra Innings plan. The BIGGEST difference is that DISH subscribers are no longer shut out from MLBEI, so if you're a baseball junky and were leaning in that direction, it makes your decision just a little bit easier.

Check out the table below for a breakdown of all the key specs...