The St. Louis Cardinals have doubled down on their digital-first strategy, announcing an expanded multi-year agreement with bet365 that fundamentally alters how the club’s games will be presented to fans. As the team officially transitions to Cardinals.TV for the 2026 season—a direct-to-consumer platform produced and distributed by Major League Baseball—the service will now be officially titled “Cardinals.TV presented by bet365.”
The deal builds on a relationship that began in March 2025, shortly after bet365 was named the team’s inaugural mobile sports betting partner. Following the successful launch of legal mobile wagering in Missouri on December 1, 2025, the brand is now moving from the stadium outfield to the heart of the broadcast booth.
The Gambling-Integrated Broadcast
This expansion represents one of the most deep-seated integrations of a sportsbook into a team’s primary media outlet. Fans subscribing to the $99.99 season-long service will see a broadcast experience designed around the bet365 ecosystem:
- Live In-Game Odds: Real-time betting data will be woven into the live game feed, allowing for instant synchronization between the action on the field and the odds on the app.
- Branded Environments: The bet365 logo will be a constant fixture, appearing on scoreboard backdrops, tune-in tags, and within all club-produced linear broadcasts.
- Direct Revenue Growth: While the original 2025 marketing deal was valued at approximately $1.4 million annually, this “presenting sponsor” status is expected to carry a significantly higher premium, providing the Cardinals with vital revenue as they exit the traditional RSN model.
A New Era of Access
The shift to Cardinals.TV follows the team’s decision to terminate its relationship with its former regional sports network partner (most recently FanDuel Sports Network) due to missed payments in late 2025. By joining the MLB-produced model, the Cardinals join seven other teams—including the Padres and Diamondbacks—in providing blackout-free streaming within their home territory.
The Cardinals open their 2026 campaign at Busch Stadium on March 26 against the Tampa Bay Rays. When the first pitch is thrown at 3:15 PM local time, fans won’t just be watching a game; they’ll be engaging with a new, highly commercialized digital product that treats the betting line as a primary narrative of the season.