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Once the new Dodgers television network, SportsNet LA, is up and running, it will be busy with game coverage from the start, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
Kasten: Every spring training game will be on SportsNet LA, #Dodgers new cable channel.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) January 15, 2014
This is a vast improvement over recent years, which featured all Dodgers games from Camelback Ranch on television, all home games plus "road" games against the co-tenant White Sox.
Now it's just a matter of people being able to watch the network.
The network is supposed to launch on February 25, one day before the Dodgers begin their Cactus League schedule, but to date nothing official has been announced. There have been reports of several additions to the broadcast team for the new network - Orel Hershiser, Nomar Garciaparra, Alanna Rizzo, Jerry Hairston Jr. and John Hartung - but the team hasn't announced anything yet.
The 25-year deal with Time Warner Cable reportedly worth in the neighborhood of $8 billion still hasn't officially been approved by MLB, though that is expected to happen.
Once the network is up and running, the race then becomes waiting for cable and satellite providers to add SportsNet LA. If the Lakers network, Time Warner Cable Sportsnet, is any guide, the negotiations could continue into the early portion of the regular season, as it did with the Lakers in 2012.
But let's for a moment assume the network is available and watchable on DirecTV, Verizon Fios, AT&T U-Verse, Charter, Dish Network et al. Having all 21 spring games from Arizona, including eight road games, available on the network, is a pretty great start.