Baseball TV Shake-Up: MLB Inks Deal With Netflix, NBC & ESPN
What To Know
- Major League Baseball has signed a new three-year media rights deal with NBC, Netflix, and ESPN, shifting Sunday night games and Wild Card rights to NBC while introducing Netflix as a new broadcast partner for select events.
- Under the agreement, ESPN will integrate MLB.TV into its app and air 30 regular-season games, NBC Sports will handle Sunday Night Baseball and an expanded Sunday Leadoff package, and Netflix will stream special games.
- The deal runs through 2028, after which all MLB broadcast rights—including those currently with Fox Sports, TNT Sports, and Apple TV—will be up for bid.
Significant changes are coming to how viewers can watch Major League Baseball, as NBC and Netflix join ESPN in securing broadcast rights for future seasons.
After a record-setting World Series, in which the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games, MLB has finally inked its new media rights deal. The agreement will keep certain games on ESPN, but the flagship Sunday night games will move to NBC Sports. The Wild Card rights have also moved from ESPN to NBC.
In addition, Netflix is getting in on the baseball business. According to The Hollywood Reporter, in addition to the annual Home Run Derby during the All-Star break, the streamer will also have MLB’s opening night game and a revived Field of Dreams game next year in Dyersville, Iowa, the location of the classic 1989 Kevin Costner sports movie.
Also, one special event game per season will air on NBC Sports and Netflix in 2027 and 2028.
The deal with ESPN, NBC Sports, and Netflix runs for three years, meaning the rights will be up in 2028, at the same time the league’s existing rights with Fox Sports, TNT Sports, and Apple TV end. This means the entire MLB portfolio will be up for bid in 2028.
As of now, the MLB postseason on Fox and TBS and the Friday night games on Apple TV are unaffected by the new deal with ESPN, NBC Sports, and Netflix.
“Our new media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix provide us with a great opportunity to expand our reach to fans through three powerful destinations for live sports, entertainment, and marquee events,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement, per THR.
He continued, “Following our last World Series game that averaged more than 51 million viewers globally, these partnerships build on MLB’s growing momentum that includes generational stars setting new standards for excellence, new rules which have improved the game on the field, and increases in important fan engagement metrics like viewership, attendance, participation and social media consumption.”
“We’re looking forward to tapping into the unique areas of expertise that ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix each bring to the sport for the benefit of our fans,” Manfred concluded.
The new agreement with ESPN will see the streaming service MLB.TV folded into the ESPN app, giving viewers the chance to watch live, out-of-market games. Additionally, ESPN will broadcast 30 regular-season games for its linear networks and streaming service.
NBC Sports will air Sunday Night Baseball, as well as an MLB Sunday Leadoff package of 18 late-morning games. The majority of those games will stream on Peacock and air on the relaunched NBCSN cable network. Highlights of those games will also air on Peacock in the afternoon.
On July 5, 2026, NBC Sports will feature all 15 MLB games that day, including a Sunday Leadoff broadcast, every afternoon game on Peacock, and Sunday Night Baseball.
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