MLB Reaches 3-Year Media Rights Deals With ESPN, NBC And Netflix

When ESPN and MLB opted out of their media rights deal that included Sunday Night Baseball and jewel events like the Home Run Derby and the Wild Card series, it left a gap between now and the end of the 2028 season. Today, MLB announced short-term media rights deals to bridge that gap.

The deals announced today include Netflix, NBC, and a new deal with ESPN.

“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,” said Commissioner Rob Manfred.

“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.”

ESPN’s Media Deal With MLB

The ESPN deal will see a total of 30 national games, as well as the out-of-market rights for six teams for which MLB controls the rights. Those teams are the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the latest addition, the Seattle Mariners, who are shuttering ROOT Sports Northwest. The national broadcasts will air on Thursdays, rather than the prior deal that had them on Sundays. Out-of-market games will be available for streaming on the ESPN app, as well as being retained on the league’s MLB.TV package. That will translate to ESPN streaming over 150 out-of-market games, one per day, via the ESPN app.

ESPN will have rights to Memorial Day game coverage and televise the second half opener coming out of the All-Star break between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets as the only game scheduled on Thursday, July 16. The deal also sees ESPN continuing to carry the Little League Classic, featuring the Atlanta Braves against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, Aug. 23, from Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

“This fan-friendly agreement allows us to showcase the great sport of baseball on both a local and national level, while prioritizing our streaming future,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN. “MLB.TV is a coveted, must-have companion for passionate MLB fans all over the country, and it will be strongly complemented by our national game package and in-market team rights – all within the ESPN App.”

NBC’s Media Deal With MLB

NBC will pick up the Sunday Night Baseball offering as well as the Wild Card series. Starting next season, NBC’s Peacock will stream the Sunday morning game that was on Roku. Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock will remain the only MLB game scheduled on Sunday nights. Some Sunday night games will stream on Peacock and simulcast on NBCSN during weeks when there is overlap with previously negotiated media rights deals on NBC. NBC and Peacock will also air select special-event games, including primetime matchups on Opening Day and Labor Day.

The MLB Draft will move to the Saturday of All-Star Week, where NBC and Peacock will present the first hour of the event. Peacock/NBCSN and MLB Network will carry the remainder of the first round. The Draft had been airing on MLB Network. NBC and Peacock will also present the Futures Game.

The first game on NBC will be the Diamondbacks against the Dodgers on March 26 to kick the season off. The game will feature the Dodgers hoisting the World Series Championship banner in primetime.

Netflix’s Media Deal With MLB

For Netflix, they will pick up the Home Run Derby, the Field of Dreams game and other MLB content globally. Beginning in 2026 and for the life of the agreement, Netflix will stream a single Opening Night game before a full slate of traditional Opening Day games. That will start on Wednesday, March 25, when the New York Yankees play the San Francisco Giants. They had already reached an agreement with MLB to stream all 47 games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic to its audience in Japan.

MLB Network will assist in producing games along with Netflix.

“We are incredibly thankful for our partnership with Major League Baseball,” said Bela Bajaria, Chief Content Officer, Netflix. “We started with critically-acclaimed documentaries, deepening the existing global passion for baseball. Now, we are seizing that moment by bringing massive cultural spectacles—from Opening Night to the Home Run Derby—directly to our members, reinforcing Netflix as the ultimate home for both the story and the sport.”

As to the value of the deals, the NBCUniversal deal is nearly $300 million annually; the ESPN deal that picks up the out-of-market rights is close to, or at, the $550 million annually that they had in their prior contract, and the Netflix deal is in the $35 million a year range.

The three-year agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Netflix will mean all of MLB’s media rights will be up for renewal in 2029 when FOX and TBS join the fray.