Major League Baseball announced a major media rights deal on Wednesday that keeps games on ESPN for a 39th consecutive season while also bringing games back to NBC and forming a new relationship with Netflix.
The three-year deal brings NBC back into the MLB fold for the first time in two years, while Netflix will broadcast live games for the first time.
“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.
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“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.”
While MLB games will continue to be on ESPN through MLB.TV, “Sunday Night Baseball” is pivoting to NBC, as is the Wild Card Series. The Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams Game will move to Netflix, and NBC’s first game of the season will be a primetime Opening Day matchup between the back-to-back reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
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“We are incredibly thankful for our partnership with Major League Baseball,” Bela Bajaria, chief content officer of Netflix, said. “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.”
“We are excited to welcome Major League Baseball back to the NBC Sports family as we showcase the best in the game with Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock, the first game of the day on most Sunday mornings exclusively on Peacock and NBCSN, and the full Wild Card round across NBC, NBCSN and Peacock,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said. “We can’t wait for the first pitch in primetime on March 26 … and what a way to start with the champion Los Angeles Dodgers’ opener following their thrilling World Series victory!”
MLB games were broadcast on NBC from 1947 to 1989, and then again from 1994 to 2000.
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