Comcast subscribers may be able to watch Cardinals games again very soon

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of many teams around baseball that has been impacted by the Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy over the course of this season, and fans who have Comcast as their television provider have been greatly impacted by the deterioration of the broadcasting rights.

Since the beginning of June, Cardinals fans have been unable to watch Bally Sports Midwest on Comcast due to the two companies being unable to reach an agreement on how the product would be broadcast on Comcast. According to Evan Drellich of The Athletic (subscription required), that may be changing here soon.

Drellich reported that a lawyer representing Diamond Sports Group, Brian Hermann, believes the two sides of made significant progress in getting Bally Sports back on Comcast and that games may be available once again in the near future. This would be huge for those within the fanbase who still desire to watch Cardinals games, as areas like Central Illinois have been dramatically impacted by the loss of games on Comcast the past two months.

While this is great news in the immediate future, it is still likely that the Cardinals move toward some form of direct-to-consumer packages following the conclusion of the 2024 season. While Diamond Sports Group may be able to find a buyer or investor to take over their rights when it is all said and done, the Cardinals are not included in any of those deals and are free to do their own thing, which they likely will. This should ultimately be a positive for fans, as they can avoid blackouts and pay to watch Cardinals games without having to purchase a bunch of other channels through a cable subscription.

If you want to see an example of how that could look, check out the Arizona Diamondbacks' direct-to-consumer product that they have available in-market for Diamondbacks fans. It will give you a glimpse into what to expect from the Cardinals next year, the cost, and more.

The more clarity the Cardinals get regarding the future of their television rights, the better, both for fans and for the club. Fans are understandably frustrated by how that has gone over this year, let alone the decades-long issue of blackouts that has significantly hurt consumers who want to enjoy Cardinals games. The Cardinals feel that pain as well, as they know they could bring in more revenue if there was a better option out there than what Major League Baseball has been doing for as long as the RSN model has been in place.