NBC, Netflix, and ESPN Get Joint Custody of Major League Baseball
Somebody alert Dodgers superfan Elizabeth Olsen: The channels for baseball are changing. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Major League Baseball has signed a new deal for who gets what game on which streaming service and/or terrestrial channel. For 35 years, ESPN was the home for national games during baseball season. But ESPN gave the MLB the boot back in February of this year. Now, MLB is splitting its time between Disney’s sports channel and NBC. Sunday-night games are now moving to NBC Sports, giving it year-round Sunday-night content: NFL games during football season, NBA games during basketball, and now baseball rounds out the American pastimes calendar.
For ESPN’s part, it’s acquired MLB.TV, which will add out-of-market games to the ESPN streaming app. NBC Sports will get an additional Sunday Leadoff package of late-morning games. They will stream on Peacock and air on NBCSN.
Netflix is also getting some games for its live-broadcast needs. The streamer will run the annual Home Run Derby, an opening-night game, and a Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa (where the 1989 movie was shot).
Postseason games still belong to Fox and TBS, with some Friday-night games running on Apple TV. This whole arrangement will last until 2028, when everyone gets to pitch their service to MLB all over again.
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