By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Oct 12, 2021 at 8:06 AM Photography: Twitter/Milwaukee Brewers

Playoff fever has once again struck Milwaukee, as just months after the Bucks won its first pro championship in 50 years, Brew City has its eyes on yet another trophy thanks to the NL Central-winning Brewers.

There was once a time when merely going to the playoffs was enough of an unexpected thrill for Milwaukee – but now, with their franchise-record fourth straight postseason appearance and with perhaps their best roster in recent memory, Brew Crew fans are ready for the team to make the next big step: make the World Series for the first time since 1982. And while you're there, you might as well win the darn thing too. 

First things first, though, the Brewers have to make it through the NLDS and through a familiar face from their past: the Atlanta Braves, the 2021 NL East champions. And while they scuffled for much of the regular season – and lost their all-star face of the franchise, Ronald Acuna Jr., to an ACL injury – they're certainly no mere speedbump. So you're definitely not going to want to miss a pitch of this matchup – a historic one at that, considering this is the first time these two closely-bonded franchises have faced off in the postseason. 

Didn't score a ticket to one of the games at American Family Field? And can't make it over to one of the viewing parties at The MECCA or The Beer Garden in Deer District? You can still cheer on the Crew from home or on the road thanks to all sorts of options via regular cable TV or streaming options. Here's a viewing guide for watching the Brewers bash the Braves in the NLDS.

Regular TV listings

For those who have a standard cable package, finding the Brewers-Braves series is easier than Christian Yelich taking batting practice off a tee. Here's the national television schedule for the NLDS – all found on TBS. (The first two games were at home, while Games 3 and 4 are in Atlanta. If a fifth game is necessary, the teams will head back to American Family Field for the decisive battle.)

  • Game 4  – Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 4:15 p.m. on TBS
  • Game 5 (if necessary) – Thursday, Oct. 14 at 4:07 p.m. on TBS

And if you prefer your Brew Crew games narrated by the beloved Bob Uecker – and why would you not? – tune in to 620 WTMJ. 

Streaming options

For those cord-cutting Crew fans out there, you could head over to the local watering hole to watch the game – or join your fellow Brew Crew crazies in Deer District for one of their viewing parties. (After all, last time we gathered around Fiserv Forum to watch a Milwaukee team play Atlanta in the postseason, it worked out pretty well.) But you also can't beat the comfort of your own couch – not to mention the price of those beers in the fridge – so here are some home-run options for watching the Brewers from home, even without cable.

Live television streaming services

Cable may be going, going, gone from your household, but that doesn't mean you don't have access to postseason baseball thanks to live television streaming services – such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV or DirecTV Stream. (Most of the major streaming services – Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max and Apple TV+ – have yet to get into the live broadcasting game, and while Peacock offers live streaming sports for the Olympics, soccer and some other events, they don't have the rights to baseball.)

Thanks to MLB licensing deals, the only channel Brewers fans need to worry about for the NLDS is TBS, which has all of the National League playoff games this season – and therefore all of the five-game series against the Braves. Unfortunately, FuboTV doesn't include TBS in its streaming television channel package, so you can cross that service off your list this postseason. Thankfully, however, the other four all offer the channel. YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and DirecTV Stream all cost between $60-70 while Sling TV costs significantly cheaper at $35 for either its Blue or Orange package, both of which include TBS.

  • Sling TV – $35 a month (either the Blue or Orange package; together costs $50)
  • YouTube TV – $65 a month
  • Hulu with Live TV – $65 a month
  • DirecTV Stream – $69.99 a month
  • FuboTV – $65 a month (but doesn't have TBS so is irrelevant here)

A reminder: Many of these live television streaming services offer deals or free trial periods. Hulu with Live TV, for instance, comes with a seven-day free trial period while right now Sling TV is offering a deal to new customers, only costing $10 for your first month. So if you time it right – and be sure to remember to cancel your subscription before the deadline if you don't want to keep it – you could get access to the Brewers playoff run for even cheaper than expected. 

TV channel apps/websites

While you may have cut the cord, you probably know somebody who didn't – somebody who might be willing to give you their cable log-in information so you can watch the game on one of your devices.

For watching on a TV screen, download the TBS app onto your streaming television device of choice (Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast or Amazon Fire Stick), plug in using the loaned cable provider information, and enjoy the finest brand of baseball there is: October baseball. 

As for watching on your computer or other mobile device, the process is very similar – except this time just head over to TBS' website, which should have a link to watching the game right up front on its main page. The site offers about ten minutes of free viewing – but if you want to watch any more than that, you'll need to log in with a cable provider, so click the "Sign in" button, punch in the cable username and password, and enjoy watching hopefully some more Brewers victories. No cable necessary! (OK, somebody's cable was necessary.) This method is also an excellent option if you have cable but you're away from home and can only watch on a computer or iPad screen.

So no matter where you are or what your cable situation is, you can cheer on the Brewers.

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.