Watching the Guardians, Browns & Cavs in 2026 — Without Cable
Last verified: August 2026
Every Browns game is free with an antenna. The Guardians sell the whole 2026 season for $34.99 through one app. The Cavs run their own channel — partly free over the air. This is the 2026 map of where every Cleveland game went, in plain English.
Why this guide has a year on the cover
Cleveland sports TV got rearranged. The old regional cable channel — SportsTime Ohio, then Bally Sports, then FanDuel Sports Network — went through bankruptcy, and its parent company has been winding down. The Guardians responded by partnering with Major League Baseball itself to sell games straight to fans. The Cavaliers' organization built its own channel and put it on free over-the-air TV. And the NFL scattered a slice of games across Amazon, Netflix, Peacock, and ESPN's app.
Here's the part that gets lost in the shuffle: for most fans, the new world is cheaper than cable — often dramatically. But the details now change every single year, which is why this guide is stamped 2026 and why it tells you exactly where to re-check each season. Every price below was verified in July 2026.
The Browns — the good news first
If you live in the Cleveland market (all of Portage County counts), every Browns game airs free on a local broadcast station — league rules require it, even for games that are "exclusively" on Amazon, Netflix, or Peacock nationally. The pattern: AFC opponents on Sunday afternoons are on CBS Channel 19 (WOIO), NFC opponents on FOX Channel 8 (WJW), Sunday night games on NBC Channel 3 (WKYC), and Monday/Thursday/holiday games get a free local simulcast — check that week's listings. A $20–$40 indoor antenna is the whole setup. Sunday Ticket, by the way, is for out-of-market games only — it is not a way to watch the Browns from Cleveland, no matter how the ads sound.
The Guardians — one app, $34.99 for the season
- For 2026 (the second year running), Major League Baseball produces the Guardians' local games — 150+ of 162 — and sells them through CLEGuardians.TV, watched in the free MLB app.
- Pricing as of mid-2026: $34.99 for the season or $19.99/month; bundled with league-wide MLB.TV it's $84.99/season or $39.99/month. Each comes with a 7-day free trial.
- No local blackouts — CLEGuardians.TV is the in-market package, the opposite of the old MLB.TV blackout headache.
- Free options too: 10 games simulcast on WKYC Channel 3, 13 national games, and every single game on WTAM 1100 AM (WMMS 100.7 FM carries 133).
The Cavs — honest answer: partly settled, partly in flux
Last season (2025–26), about 70 Cavs games aired on FanDuel Sports Network, with five simulcast free on the team's own channel, Rock Entertainment Sports Network (RESN), and WUAB Channel 43. FanDuel's parent company has been winding down, so the 2026–27 plan is being redone — and as of July 2026 it hadn't been announced. The good news: the Cavs already own RESN, which you can get today free over the air on channel 22.1, on Spectrum channel 979, or streamed free at watchrocksports.com. My advice: get RESN working now, watch cavs.com for the announcement this fall, and don't pre-pay for anything until it's official.
The streaming-night football games in 2026
- Amazon Prime Video — every Thursday Night Football game.
- Netflix — five games this season, including two on Christmas Day.
- Peacock — one exclusive game (Saturday, Jan. 2) plus NBC's Sunday night games; about $13/month as of mid-2026.
- ESPN's app — Monday Night Football; the full ESPN Unlimited plan runs $29.99/month as of mid-2026.
- Remember: when the Browns are in any of these, it also airs free on a local Cleveland station. You only need these services to watch other teams' exclusive games.
The month-at-a-time rule
Streaming services have no contracts. If Netflix has one game you care about in December, subscribe for a month, watch, and cancel — mark the cancellation on the calendar the day you sign up. Buying every sports service for a full year is how cord-cutting quietly becomes as expensive as the cable bill you left. Most Browns-first households I work with land between free and about $10 a month averaged over the year.
Check these once a season
- Each March: mlb.com/guardians — confirm the CLEGuardians.TV price and the free Channel 3 game list.
- Each September: clevelandbrowns.com → ways to watch — confirm the channel pattern, test Channel 19.
- Each October: cavs.com and watchrocksports.com — read the season's TV plan, rescan for channel 22.1.
- Any time: cancel a streaming service you haven't opened in two months.
What's in the printable PDF
- What actually happened to Cleveland sports TV — two minutes of plain-English background.
- Your three tools — antenna, internet, apps — and what you do NOT need.
- Three sample setups with real mid-2026 prices, from free to all-three-teams.
- CLEGuardians.TV — all four packages, the blackout question answered, and step-by-step setup.
- The free Guardians season: Channel 3 games, national games, and every game on the radio.
- The Cavs situation, honestly — plus a fall checklist so the announcement doesn't catch you paying twice.
- Rock Entertainment Sports Network — antenna 22.1, Spectrum 979, and the free stream.
- The Browns channel table — which local station has which game, ready to cut out.
- NFL+ and Sunday Ticket, decoded — what each actually does and who should skip both.
- The master table — every app, every price (as of mid-2026), one page.
- Game-day troubleshooting — the five problems behind most missed first quarters.
- A cut-out card for beside the remote, and one scam warning about "free stream" boxes.
Why I wrote this
Cord-cutting questions used to be a side topic on my visits; in 2026 they're half the job, and sports is the reason people hesitate. So I sat down and verified the whole Cleveland picture — prices, channels, what's settled, what isn't — and wrote it up the way I'd explain it at a kitchen table. Where something is still in flux (the Cavs' next TV deal), the guide says so plainly instead of guessing. I'll write the 2027 edition when the deals shuffle again. — Bill
Want your TV game-ready before the season?
One $99 visit: antenna set up and aimed, channels scanned, the MLB app installed and signed in, any streaming apps added, remote labeled, and a walk-through until finding tonight's game is easy. 30-day follow-up included.
This guide is yours, free.
No sign-up, no email, no catch — it's free the way it looks free. Print it, save it, or share it with family. And if you'd rather hand the job off, Bill's two choices are right above: a $99 flat in-home visit or $49 remote help, often same day.