How the Dallas Mavericks held up the Texas Rangers’ spring television schedule
The Texas Rangers’ Cactus League opener, much to the dismay of many on the Twitter, was not carried on television.
It had nothing to do with the testy negotiations between Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns Fox Sports, and streaming services Hulu and YouTubeTV. The spring lid-lifter has been on TV in the past, but not always.
But no one had any idea when a Rangers spring game would be on air, a mystery that was solved Monday.
Fox Sports Southwest will televise six spring games, the first coming Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels. The Rangers will pick up feeds from the opposing teams for the first two before the Rangers’ production team takes over.
The delay was all about the Dallas Mavericks.
The second-half NBA schedule was released last week, and Fox Sports Southwest is working through that to determine the dates of Mavericks games it will be broadcasting. Once that’s done, the Rangers will be able to set their schedule.
Though only six games will be on TV, many others will be on 105.3 FM or a webcast at texasrangers.com. Their game Monday against the San Francisco Giants was a webcast.
The Rangers’ game Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox will be on TV, on NBCSN Chicago and shown again at 5 a.m. Wednesday on MLB Network. It’s the spring debut for right-hander Kohei Arihara.
Rangers spring TV schedule
Wednesday, vs. Angels, 2 p.m., FSSW (Fox Sports West)
March 13, vs. Brewers, 2 p.m., FSSW+ (Fox Sports Wisconsin)
March 21, vs. Indians, 3 p.m., FSSW
March 23, vs. Angels, 3 p.m., FSSW
March 28, vs. Cubs, 2 p.m., FSSW+
March 30, vs. Brewers, 1 p.m., FSSW
