MLB Deal with Peacock for Sunday Leadoff Games Expires; Will League Pursue More National Streaming Deals?
MLB Deal with Peacock for Sunday Leadoff Games Expires; Will League Pursue More National Streaming Deals?
MLB still has a streaming-only deal for a package of games with Apple, but are those deals panning out for the league as RSNs collapse?
Peacock has a giant lineup of live sports, but for the moment that lineup is one item smaller than it was last year. The streamer’s deal with MLB to offer a package of early games on Sunday mornings expired at the end of the season, and there has been no word on a renewal between the two sides.
- The MLB Sunday Leadoff package included 19 games in 2023.
- Currently, MLB’s only streaming-exclusive package resides on Apple TV+.
- MLB has been grappling with questions about its broadcast rights in the face of the collapse of regional sports networks.
Will MLB Sunday Leadoff Be Back on Peacock Next Season?
As of now, no. There’s still plenty of time for Peacock and MLB to agree to a new deal, but as it stands there will be no MLB games streamed on Peacock during the 2024 season. The original deal between Peacock and the league wasn’t agreed to until just before spring training of 2022, though it’s not likely the two sides will wait that long to come to terms if they re-up this year.
The deal sent 19 Sunday games in early broadcast windows to Peacock throughout the 2023 season. Front Office Sports estimates the deal was worth around $30 million per season, which pales in comparison to MLB’s deals with Fox, ESPN and TBS, but still represents a significant investment on the part of NBCUniversal. Apple’s deal with MLB to offer Friday night doubleheaders comes in at around $85 million.
What’s the Status of MLB’s Other Broadcast Rights?
Major League Baseball is at something of a crossroads with its broadcast rights these days. The league’s national deals with ESPN, TBS, and Fox run through 2028, though ESPN and MLB both have opt-out clauses they can trigger after 2025. Its local broadcast rights are in much greater doubt, however.
Diamond Sports Group owns the broadcast rights to 11 MLB teams and airs their games on Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs). The league spent a big portion of 2023 trying to claw back those rights in bankruptcy court and ultimately assumed responsibility for broadcasting Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres games itself. Now, it’s mulling a proposal from Diamond that would see games stay on Bally Sports in 2024, after which time all rights would revert to the league.
Will the league agree to another national streaming package like its deal with Peacock before the start of the 2024 season? The ultimate answer to that question will reveal if the league thought the Peacock deal achieved its target goals of expanding baseball’s audience to a younger crowd. Younger viewers are generally more comfortable watching live sports via streaming, but if MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock didn’t attract a large and youthful audience segment, the league may decide it’s not worth it to try such a package again.
If the league does want to try a new streaming-exclusive package, it could have plenty of suitors. ESPN+ makes sense, as that streamer already partners with the league for a daily game during the season. Amazon has clear interest in acquiring more live sports rights; would a package of MLB games fit on Prime Video? There are plenty of options for MLB with this package of Sunday morning games, but at the moment it does not have a linear or streaming partner to air them.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” “The Office,” and original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports and NBC programming, including the NFL, MLB, WWE, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, the French Open, college football and basketball, and the PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.