MLB Media-Rights Shakeup Overview: ESPN, NBCU, Netflix Ink Three-Year DealsESPN gets new 30-game package, MLB.TV; NBC extends Sunday nights; Netflix adds tentpole eventsby Brandon Costa, Jason Dachman, and Ken Kerschbaumer
Wednesday, November 19, 2025 - 4:16 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Major League Baseball announced new three-year media-rights agreements with Netflix, ESPN, and NBCUniversal today, marking a new era for how the game is consumed by fans. The agreements will extend MLB and ESPN's long-term relationship to 39 consecutive seasons, mark the return of MLB games on NBC for the first time in 26 years, and signal Netflix's most significant expansion into the sport to date.
Meanwhile, the league's existing deals with FOX Sports, TNT Sports, and Apple remain in place. According to The Athletic, MLB will receive almost $750 million per year in total over the next three seasons.
ESPN's new MLB rights deal will dramatically reshape how fans watch baseball beginning in 2026, especially as it pertains to streaming. The multi-year deal adds a new 30-game national television package while making ESPN the exclusive home of MLB.TV and granting the broadcaster exclusive local in-market streaming rights for six MLB clubs. According to The Athletic, ESPN will pay the same $1.65 billion over three years for the newly created package as it did for the previous package it opted out of in February.
MLB returns to NBC Sports with a showcase package of exclusive games and events across NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock. The deal includes primetime's Sunday Night Baseball, a Peacock-exclusive MLB Sunday Leadoff package of games, a Sunday-afternoon whip-around show on Peacock, an exclusive Opening Day primetime game (March 26, 2026), a new Labor Day primetime tradition, and the entire Wild Card round of the postseason. NBC/Peacock is expected to pay nearly $200 million per year, according to The Athletic.
For the first time, fans will be able to watch MLB games live on Netflix. Beginning in 2026, Netflix will livestream multiple MLB events each year, including a single game on Opening Night, the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, and an additional special-event game each year, starting with MLB at Field of Dreams in 2026. Netflix will pay $50 million per season, according to The Athletic. As previously announced, Netflix will also deliver live coverage of all 47 games of the World Baseball Classic to its audience in Japan starting in 2026.
As for the league's existing rights deals, FOX and FS1 will continue as the home of the World Series, LCS, LDS, All-Star Game, 2026 World Baseball Classic, and selected regular-season and special-event games. TBS will continue as the home of LCS and LDS games, plus regular-season games on Tuesday nights. Apple TV will continue to stream Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders throughout the regular season. And MLB Network will continue to air live games and its full slate of studio shows.
ESPN Gets 30 National Games on Linear, MLB.TV Exclusively on ESPN AppESPN's new deal features a broad range of national rights, plus local in-market and out-of-market rights. As part of the agreement, ESPN also becomes exclusive rightsholder of MLB.TV, making thousands of games available each season on the ESPN App, in addition to MLB platforms, in 2026.
Under the agreement, ESPN will integrate MLB.TV directly into the ESPN App, making thousands of out-of-market games available each season alongside ESPN's other sports programming. Both new and existing MLB.TV subscribers will be able to access the service through the ESPN App and MLB's digital platforms. The partnership marks the first time MLB.TV will be distributed through an external digital platform, signaling a major step in ESPN's ongoing direct-to-consumer strategy.
The deal also expands ESPN's reach into local markets. Beginning in 2026, Padres, Guardians, Mariners, Twins, Diamondbacks, and Rockies games will be available to purchase and stream on MLB platforms, reflecting MLB's efforts to stabilize local-media rights in the wake of regional-sports-network disruptions.
ESPN will also deliver more than 150 out-of-market regular-season games every season across a special game of the day offering for subscribers to the ESPN Unlimited plan.
ESPN will produce a new, exclusive package of national regular-season MLB games each year for its linear networks and direct-to-consumer offering. The 30-game schedule will comprise primarily weeknight games, with a focus on the core summer months.
Other rights include:
Fans with an MLB.TV subscription also have access to MLB Network and its 24/7 programming
ESPN's MLB studio rights for Baseball Tonight will continue
Existing audio package continues as ESPN Radio remains the national audio home of the World Series, the full MLB Postseason, the MLB All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, weekly Saturday games and Sunday Night Baseball
ESPN retains Spanish-language rights for its new, linear games package
Rights for SportsCenter and additional ESPN studio-show presence at signature MLB events, including the World Series
Rights in Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia/New Zealand, Africa, Netherlands, and China
CLICK HERE for more details.
NBC Adds Sunday Night Baseball, Peacock-Exclusive Game, Wild Card Games, and MoreNBCUniversal's new MLB agreement is headlined by exclusive packages across NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock, including primetime's Sunday Night Baseball, a Peacock-exclusive MLB Sunday Leadoff package of games, a Sunday-afternoon whip-around show, an exclusive Opening Day primetime game (March 26), a new Labor Day primetime tradition, and the entire Wild Card round of the postseason.
The Sunday Night Baseball package consists of 25 primetime games per year, a mixture of games on NBC/Peacock (in all available
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
MLB Media-Rights Shakeup Overview: ESPN, NBCU, Netflix Ink Three-Year DealsESPN gets new 30-game package, MLB.TV; NBC extends Sunday nights; Netflix adds tentpole eventsby Brandon Costa, Jason Dachman, and Ken Kerschbaumer 
