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 announced Cardinals Grapefruit League television games for 2017, 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.
Though the Cardinals spring television schedule has not yet been announced by the team and FOX Sports Midwest, I am aware of six games that will be televised by other sources. Five will be away from Jupiter’s Roger Dean Stadium. Three will be Minnesota Twins contests on FOX Sports North, two more will be against the Atlanta Braves on FOX Sports Southeast and one New York Mets game on ESPN.
There is much more to come.
In addition to the Cardinals’ originated telecasts and radio plans, yet to announce their broadcast schedule are five other Cardinals spring opponents, plus MLB Network. Typically, MLB.TV picks up all televised games, as well, though no news from the subscription service is yet available.
Keep an eye on this page as I will keep it updated as more information becomes available.
Update January 26: The Astros have announced their spring TV schedule on ROOT Southwest, with one addition to St. Louis’ dates, the evening game on March 27.
Update January 31: The Cardinals have announced their slate of 15 television games as well as 31 of 32 Florida games to be available via radio and/or audio streaming.
The FOX Sports Midwest televised games start from the very beginning, on February 25. All FS Midwest contests will also be streamed via the FOX Sports GO app. This schedule is designed for the working fan, as nine of the 10 spring Saturday and Sunday contests are being picked up by FS Midwest. And if you forget to set your DVR, don’t worry, as most live spring telecasts will be repeated during prime time that evening.
Audio coverage will be offered for all Grapefruit League games with the exception of a road split squad game on February 27. 18 contests will be broadcast on KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network of 153 stations, however, check your listings as some of the local stations may opt for weekend-only schedules.
The other 13 games not on KMOX/CRN will be streamed via cardinals.com and the MLB At Bat app. These contests are listed below in the Audio column as “stream”. KMOX will also broadcast the Memphis exhibition on March 30.
Of course, as more Cardinals opponents announce their schedules, this table will be updated, so stay tuned! So far, 18 of the 32 Grapefruit League games will televised across four different networks.
Update February 10: The Mets have announced their 15-game spring television slate. Three Cardinals games are included, though one coincides with the already-announced ESPN game on March 28. The unique telecasts are March 5 (WPIX) and March 17 (SportsNet New York). This increases the Cardinals spring TV game count up to 20.
Update February 17: The Nationals have no televised Cardinals contests this spring. Last among Cardinals Grapefruit League opponents to announce are the Marlins, whose spring TV slate is just five games, four of which are against St. Louis. All four are shared telecasts with FOX Sports Midwest, so the Cardinals’ overall total for spring 2017 seems complete at 20 games.
As one would hope, all 20 TV contests are also on the MLB.TV spring schedule, important for those who partake in their telecasts online. At this point, MLB Network has not announced its TV slate, which typically has been a subset of the total, offered in combination of live and taped formats.
Update February 21: MLB Network has announced its spring slate of games. It is important to remember that these are not in addition to already-announced telecasts. They usually select feeds to pick up live or on a delayed basis. Still, especially for those outside of the FOX Sports Midwest footprint, this provides another avenue to watch selected Cardinals spring training games.
For spring 2017, MLB Network is picking up eight of the 20 previously-announced TV games – three live and five on a delayed basis. They are listed below in the column entitled “MLB Net”. For exact times of the delayed broadcasts, check MLB Network’s website.
St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training Television and Radio Plans – as of 2/21/17
| Day | Month | Date | Opponent | Location | Time# | StL TV | Other TV | MLB Net | Audio |
| Saturday | February | 25 | Miami | Jupiter** | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | Delay | KMOX/CRN | |
| Sunday | February | 26 | Miami | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | KMOX/CRN | ||
| Monday | February | 27 | Washington | Jupiter | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Boston | Ft. Myers | 1:05 | WEEI/stream | ||||||
| Tuesday | February | 28 | Atlanta | Disney | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Wednesday | March | 1 | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 | KMOX/CRN | |||
| Thursday | March | 2 | Atlanta | Jupiter | 1:05 | KMOX/CRN | |||
| Friday | March | 3 | Wash. (ss) | WPB | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Saturday | March | 4 | Washington | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | Delay | KMOX/CRN | |
| Sunday | March | 5 | Mets | Pt.St.Lucie | 1:10 | WPIX | Live | KMOX/CRN | |
| Monday | March | 6 | Minnesota | Ft. Myers | 1:05 | FOX North | Delay | stream | |
| Tuesday | March | 7 | Miami | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX Florida | KMOX/CRN | |
| Wednesday | March | 8 | Washington | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | stream | ||
| Thursday | March | 9 | Houston | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | KMOX/CRN | ||
| Friday | March | 10 | Washington | WPB | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Saturday | March | 11 | Atlanta | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX Southeast | KMOX/CRN | |
| Sunday | March | 12 | Miami | Jupiter** | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX Florida | KMOX/CRN | |
| Monday | March | 13 | Houston | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | Live | KMOX/CRN | |
| Tuesday | March | 14 | OPEN | ||||||
| Wednesday | March | 15 | Minnesota | Ft. Myers | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX North | stream | |
| Thursday | March | 16 | Minnesota | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX North | Live | KMOX/CRN |
| Friday | March | 17 | Mets | Pt.St.Lucie | 1:10 | SNY | stream | ||
| Saturday | March | 18 | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | Delay | KMOX/CRN | |
| Sunday | March | 19 | Atlanta | Disney | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX Southeast | KMOX/CRN | |
| Monday | March | 20 | Houston | WPB | 6:05 | KMOX/CRN | |||
| Tuesday | March | 21 | OPEN | ||||||
| Wednesday | March | 22 | Washington | Jupiter | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Thursday | March | 23 | Miami | Jupiter | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Friday | March | 24 | Wash. (ss) | WPB | 1:05 | stream | |||
| Saturday | March | 25 | Miami | Jupiter** | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX Florida | KMOX/CRN | |
| Sunday | March | 26 | Miami | Jupiter | 1:05 | FOX Midwest | FOX Florida | KMOX/CRN | |
| Monday | March | 27 | Houston | WPB | 6:05 | ROOT SW | Delay | KMOX/CRN | |
| Tuesday | March | 28 | Mets | Pt.St.Lucie | 1:10 | ESPN/SNY | stream | ||
| Wednesday | March | 29 | Washington | Jupiter | 12:05 | stream | |||
| Thursday | March | 30 | Memphis | Memphis | 7:05 | KMOX | |||
| Friday | March | 31 | Springfield | Springfield | 5:05 | ||||
| ** “away” | |||||||||
| # local time |
Memphis is not in @FSMidwest territory. In past, FOX Southeast/Tennessee would pick up some #stlcards games. Don't have 2017 schedule yet. https://t.co/JtfrLGmsTF
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) February 19, 2017
30 Clubs in 30 Days series on @MLBNetwork will cover #stlcards on Thursday, March 9. Full schedule here: https://t.co/3Dga9fVdAu pic.twitter.com/2I2rDdXq6f
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) February 20, 2017
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