How to watch Pirates vs. Marlins on Peacock: MLB hurts the Paul Skenes viewing experience

To their credit, Major League Baseball has done a phenomenal job in marketing Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes as one of the sport’s marquee faces.

Those wanting to catch Skenes potentially carve through the Miami Marlins’ surging lineup on Sunday, though, may as well buy two tickets — one for a flight to Pittsburgh, and another to sit in the cheap seats at PNC Park.

Sunday’s Pirates-Marlins game airs exclusively on Peacock, meaning that even those in the Pittsburgh and Miami markets will need to pay just to watch a single pitch. 

How to watch Marlins vs. Pirates on Peacock

• Subscribe and stream on Peacock
• Pirates vs Marlins will not be available on local channels
• NBC Sports Network will air a replay on Sunday evening

For those without Peacock, simply go to Peacocktv.com and pick a package. You won’t find live coverage of this game on cable, even in the Pittsburgh and Miami markets. For example, in Pittsburgh the game will not be available on Pittsburgh Sports Network, the channel that traditionally broadcasts Pirates games. Instead, fans will have to purchase Peacock if they want to full embrace Skenes day, or go to the ballpark.

NBC Sports Network will air a replay of the game on Sunday evening.

The growing trend of paying for sports broadcasts only hurts Paul Skenes and MLB fans

We as sports fans live in a complicated time, one where essentially every game is available with a single click. Gone are the days of living out of market and hoping your team’s game gets picked up nationally by the likes of ESPN, TBS, or Fox.

It’s hard to fault the leagues for buying (pun not intended) into the trend of putting games exclusively on streaming platforms. The money is there, and people will always pay to watch their favorite teams. NBA fans were livid with how many playoff games aired solely on Prime Video this past year. Those living in Manhattan could no longer watch Mike Breen call the Knicks’ first-round action locally on MSG. 

With that said, good luck finding people who enjoy this system. Major League Baseball has had a streaming-only Sunday package for several years now, and it only impedes the sport’s rapid return to relevance. You would think that Rob Manfred and company would want Skenes’ starts as accessible as possible.

The league might counter that putting the Pirates on Peacock makes them more accessible, and that’s technically true. Games on Peacock aren’t subject to blackouts, and it’s incredibly easy to set the service up on any device.

But that doesn’t change the fact that we shouldn’t need to pay for all of these extra games. The only thing special about Sunday’s Pirates-Marlins showdown, outside of the simple fact that Skenes is starting, is that the first pitch is slated for 12:15 p.m. ET, over an hour before other games start.

Unfortunately for baseball fans, this will be a problem come the playoffs, too. Peacock has exclusive coverage of the entire MLB Wild Card Series. It remains unclear whether Major League Baseball will allow those in local markets to watch without a Peacock subscription.

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