Major League Baseball announced new three-year media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix on Wednesday, covering the 2026-2028 seasons. The deals shift Sunday Night Baseball to NBC, give Netflix exclusive coverage of Opening Night, the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams Game, while ESPN gains rights to MLB.TV and additional national games. The partnerships aim to expand fan reach amid rising viewership from the 2025 season.
Major League Baseball revealed its restructured broadcast landscape on November 19, 2025, following ESPN's opt-out from the previous agreement earlier in the year. The new pacts, valued at approximately $750 million annually—less than the prior $1.65 billion ESPN commitment—distribute key programming across traditional and streaming platforms.
NBCUniversal returns to regular MLB coverage after a 25-year absence, taking over Sunday Night Baseball from ESPN, where it aired since 1990. NBC and Peacock will broadcast 25 prime-time Sunday games, the full Wild Card Series (8-12 games), Sunday Leadoff (18 early Sunday games), and select special events like Opening Day and Labor Day matchups. In 2026, NBC's season opener features the Arizona Diamondbacks against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on March 26. During conflicts with NFL or NBA, games shift to Peacock exclusively.
Netflix enters live MLB events for the first time, streaming the standalone Opening Night game on March 25, 2026, pitting the New York Yankees against the San Francisco Giants. It will also air the T-Mobile Home Run Derby ahead of the All-Star Game at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park and the Field of Dreams Game on August 13, 2026, with the Minnesota Twins facing the Philadelphia Phillies in Dyersville, Iowa. Netflix previously collaborated on documentaries like the Emmy-winning 'The Turnaround'.
ESPN maintains its longstanding partnership, now in its 39th season, acquiring exclusive rights to MLB.TV, which recorded 19.4 billion minutes watched in 2025—a 34% increase. The service, priced at $150 annually with T-Mobile perks continuing, will integrate into the ESPN App alongside in-market rights for six teams: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. ESPN adds 30 exclusive weeknight games, plus events like the Little League Classic.
Unchanged elements include Fox/FS1 handling the All-Star Game, postseason through the World Series, and Apple TV's Friday Night Baseball.
"Our new media rights agreements... provide us with a great opportunity to expand our reach to fans," Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. said. Netflix's Bela Bajaria added, "We are seizing that moment by bringing massive cultural spectacles... directly to our members." ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro noted, "This fan-friendly agreement allows us to showcase the great sport of baseball on both a local and national level."
The deals build on 2025's momentum, including the most-watched postseason in eight years and a World Series Game 7 averaging 51 million global viewers.
