The Cleveland Indians have been broadcast on SportsTime Ohio for well over a decade.
Then came a bit of a rebrand under the Fox Sports umbrella.
2021 will introduce yet another rebrand as the network will now be called “Bally Sports Great Lakes.”
But all Indians fans care about is watching the games.
The name of the network is not important.
Bally Sports Great Lakes makes its official debut when the season opens up April 1 and a press release came out announcing the 2021 broadcast schedule.
Broadcasts All Throughout 2021
For many years, we’ve captured the memories, shared the emotion, watched legends grow. Sports connect us all.
Bally Sports – The Story Continues March 31.#HeartoftheFan pic.twitter.com/Clw1SS9kCo— FOX Sports Cleveland (@FOXSportsCLE) March 17, 2021
The press release explains that the new network will broadcast at least 157 of the team’s 162 regular season games.
So every game that isn’t on a national station will be shown to fans locally.
That begins April 1 when the Indians open the season on the road against the Detroit Tigers.
The home opener is April 5 and that game will also be broadcast on Channel 3 (WKYC) as usual.
Having nearly every game as a local broadcast is nice and avoids those days where the game is only on the radio.
Nothing against Tom Hamilton, but that can be annoying.
Plenty of fans, unfortunately, will be dealing with carrier issues if they don’t have regular cable.
That is a problem that goes beyond the team and has to do with the networks themselves.
Hopefully, they can figure all that out before April 1.
Season Gets Underway in Two Weeks
The Indians season is fast approaching and we are finally back to a full 162-game schedule in 2021.
We even practice our favorite phrases during spring training…. pic.twitter.com/0OwosbPl1R
— Andre Knott (@DreKnott) March 16, 2021
The only real schedule quirk comes during the first week of the season.
Play begins April 1 and the Indians have three off-days between April 2-8.
But those rest days are usually put in place in case there are cancelations during the unpredictable weather seen in the month of April.
Plenty of roster questions remain between now and then and surprises may come up along the way.
That is the excitement of spring training.
The best news is that the Indians appear to be just fine after trading away Francisco Lindor.
Of course, he is nearly impossible to replace in the lineup.
But they are “just fine” in the sense that there is not a rebuild in place or any signs of terrible morale.
Whether that holds up during all the broadcasts this season remains to be seen.
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