One of my self-assigned tasks each spring is to scan the broadcast schedules of the St. Louis Cardinals’ spring training opponents to create something that is not available in one place anywhere else.
What follows is a list of all known Cardinals spring television games, whether the broadcast originates from the Cardinals side, from their opponents or via a national network. After all, if you are like me, following the long winter, you have a thirst to watch any Major League Baseball no matter who is at the mike.
On Thursday, the Cardinals spring television schedule was jointly announced by the team and FOX Sports Midwest. 15 games will be shown on the home of the Cardinals, starting with three straight games to open the spring, from February 23-25. Generally, the telecasts will be of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday contests, with one Thursday and one Monday thrown in for good measure. One Friday evening game, on March 9, offers a special viewing treat.
So far, two additional Cardinals games will be televised by other sources, increasing the tentative TV plans to 17 contests. Spring road games against Baltimore (Wednesday, February 28) and Washington (Friday, March 16), will both be on the MASN network, adding two unique Cardinals games to the overall television schedule.
Also, two spring training games will be covered by both respective team’s networks. MASN will also telecast the Sunday, March 11 contest at the Nats, along with FS Midwest. Same with FOX Sports South and Midwest both covering the St. Patrick’s Day game at the Braves.
ESPN’s spring schedule does not include any St. Louis games.
There is still more to come, however.
At this point, two of St. Louis’ most frequent spring opponents have not yet disclosed their plans, the Mets and Marlins. Same with the Toronto Blue Jays, hosts for the final two games to be played in Montreal on March 26-27.
Also yet to announce their broadcast schedules are national entities MLB Network, FOX Network and TBS. Typically, MLB.TV picks up all televised games, as well, though no news from the subscription service is yet available.
Audio coverage of all Cardinals spring training games except one will be available either via KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network (CRN) or MLB.com. The one game not on the airwaves is a split squad game while the other contest is being televised. Therefore, there is no need for me to track opposing team radio plans for spring 2018.
Keep an eye on this page as I will keep it updated as more information becomes available.
February 5 update: Sportsnet.ca has announced that both of the Blue Jays’ Montreal exhibition games against the Cardinals, on March 26 and 27, will be televised.
February 12 update: The Mets and Marlins have announced their respective spring television schedules. The three Marlins games on FOX Sports Florida (FS FL) were already on the FOX Midwest schedule. Two Mets games will be televised – one on WPIX that coincides with an FSM game and one new telecast, on SNY on March 23.
Unless MLB Network adds any unique games, which seems unlikely, that should close the book on spring plans, with 20 unique games covered, 15 by FOX Sports Midwest.
February 19 update: MLB Network plans to pick up four live game telecasts and 10 others on a delayed basis. All of these are part of the 20 which originate on one of the team networks. Check the MLB Network schedule here for details on times for the delayed telecasts as well as local blackout rules, which vary by game.
February 23 update: The 12 games televised by FOX Sports Tennessee (FS TN) and FOX Sports Southeast (FS SE) have been added to the table. This is welcome news for Cardinals fans in Memphis as well as nearby areas in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Day | Month | Date | Opponent | Location | Time# | StL TV | Other TV | MLB Network | Audio |
Friday | Feb. | 23 | at Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS FL/TN | KMOX/CRN | |
Saturday | Feb. | 24 | Mets | PtStLucie | 1:10 | FS Midwest | WPIX | delay | KMOX/CRN |
Sunday | Feb. | 25 | Astros | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS SE | delay | KMOX/CRN |
Monday | Feb. | 26 | Twins | Ft Myers | 1:05 | no | stream | ||
Tuesday | Feb. | 27 | Red Sox | Ft Myers | 1:05 | no | stream | ||
Wed. | Feb. | 28 | Orioles | Sarasota | 1:05 | MASN | live/delay | stream | |
Thursday | March | 1 | Twins | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS SE | stream | |
Friday | March | 2 | Red Sox | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS MW Plus | no | live | KMOX/CRN |
Saturday | March | 3 | Braves | Disney | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Sunday | March | 4 | Astros | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS SE | live | KMOX/CRN |
Monday | March | 5 | Nationals | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS TN | delay | stream |
Tuesday | March | 6 | at Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Wed. | March | 7 | Nationals | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Thursday | March | 8 | Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | stream | ||
Friday | March | 9 | Astros | WPB | 6:05 | FS Midwest | FS TN | delay | stream |
Saturday | March | 10 | Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS MW Plus | FS FL/TN | delay | KMOX/CRN |
Sunday | March | 11 | Nationals | WPB | 1:05 | FS Midwest | MASN/FS SE | KMOX/CRN | |
Monday | March | 12 | OPEN | ||||||
Tuesday | March | 13 | at Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Wed. | March | 14 | Astros | WPB | 1:05 | no | stream | ||
Thursday | March | 15 | Orioles | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Friday | March | 16 | Nationals | WPB | 1:05 | MASN | delay | ||
Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS FL/TN | delay | stream | |||
Saturday | March | 17 | Braves | Disney | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS South | KMOX/CRN | |
Sunday | March | 18 | Nationals | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS TN | delay | KMOX/CRN |
Monday | March | 19 | OPEN | ||||||
Tuesday | March | 20 | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Wed. | March | 21 | at Marlins | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | stream | ||
Thursday | March | 22 | Braves | Jupiter | 1:05 | no | KMOX/CRN | ||
Friday | March | 23 | Mets | PtStLucie | 1:10 | SNY | delay | stream | |
Saturday | March | 24 | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS TN | delay | KMOX/CRN |
Sunday | March | 25 | Nationals | WPB | 1:05 | FS Midwest | FS SE | live | KMOX/CRN |
Monday | March | 26 | Blue Jays | Montreal | 7:07 | Sportsnet | delay | SN590 | |
Tuesday | March | 27 | Blue Jays | Montreal | 7:07 | Sportsnet | live | SN590 | |
Wed. | March | 28 | |||||||
Thursday | March | 29 | Opener | New York |
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