FOX national broadcast schedule is buying into the early hype surrounding the Cubs

We're just weeks away from the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers opening the 2025 MLB season with the two-game Tokyo Series. Both of those games will be broadcast on FOX, with the opener on FOX and the second tilt on FS1, and that won't be the last time a national audience will be able to watch Craig Counsell's club this year.

Chicago will get the national treatment from FOX eight more times after coming back from Japan, including a trio of appearances in August.

Chicago will play on FOX once monthly from April to July, starting with an April 26 matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. A 6:15 PM matchup against the New York Mets and Juan Soto on May 10 follows and on June 28, FOX will carry the Cubs' visit to Houston - a series that marks Kyle Tucker's first time playing there as a visitor.

The Boston Red Sox come to the Friendly Confines the weekend of July 18-20 and the Saturday evening game will be broadcast nationally - giving Cubs fans across the country a firsthand look at what might have been with Alex Bregman. Three of the team's final four FOX broadcasts come against NL Central rivals, with matchups against St. Louis (8/9), Pittsburgh (8/16) and Cincinnati (9/18) following a battle on Aug. 2 against the Baltimore Orioles at Wrigley.

The team's heavy presence on the schedule makes sense given the optimism surrounding the team - and this winter's addition of a true superstar-caliber player in Tucker. PECOTA pegged this as a 90-win club, which would put the Cubs on path for its first full-season postseason appearance since 2018 - a drought that's caused frustration among a hungry fanbase.

After its tilt against the Dodgers overseas, the Cubs return stateside to a gauntlet of a schedule in the early going. How the team weathers that April stretch could be critical in setting the team up for a successful 2025 season. In addition to these FOX broadcasts, the team will be regularly carried on Marquee Sports Network throughout the year - and that's now available as a standalone streaming option, good news given the reported carriage issues with Xfinity that surfaced earlier this week.