Major League Baseball inks multi-million dollar broadcast deals with Netflix, ESPN, and NBC

[DragonSlayer101]

The big picture: Major League Baseball has signed new media rights agreements with Netflix, ESPN, and NBCUniversal for the next three seasons. While ESPN and NBCUniversal will continue to broadcast the bulk of MLB games, Netflix will livestream the Home Run Derby, the MLB at Field of Dreams Game, and the sole matchup on Opening Night – the day before the traditional Opening Day – over the next three years.

The deal, covering the 2026 – 2028 MLB seasons, marks the first time Netflix will provide live coverage of Major League Baseball games. The platform will also stream all 47 games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic in the Japanese market, marking its debut in live-streaming baseball's premier international tournament.

Netflix has previously produced acclaimed baseball documentaries, including The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox and The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox. The former won a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Documentary Series earlier this year.

MLB has formed new three-year media rights agreements with Netflix, NBCUniversal, and ESPN.

The agreements, which cover rights for the 2026-2028 MLB seasons, mark the return of NBC to regularly airing MLB games on its broadcast network for the first time in 26 years, will expand… pic.twitter.com/uqMXYpbQFP

– MLB (@MLB) November 19, 2025

Opening Day on March 25, 2026, will see the New York Yankees travel to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco Giants. The MLB at Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and the Philadelphia Phillies will stream live from Dyersville, Iowa, on August 13, while the T-Mobile Home Run Derby will take place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 13.

With the MLB deal, Netflix has further cemented its association with top-tier sports events, following its broadcast agreement with the NFL last year. According to CNBC, the Netflix-MLB agreement is worth roughly $50 million per year, while ESPN and NBCUniversal's annual payouts to Major League Baseball are estimated at $550 million and $200 million, respectively.

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The deal with ESPN extends MLB's long-term relationship with the cable sports network to 39 consecutive seasons, while the agreement with NBCUniversal marks the return of regular-season MLB games to the NBC network for the first time in 26 years.

Under the agreements, ESPN will telecast a national midweek game throughout the season and has acquired global rights to MLB.TV, which set a viewership record this year. NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock will broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday Leadoff, Opening Day games, Labor Day primetime games, and the entire postseason Wild Card round.

Additionally, NBC and Peacock will cover out-of-market games daily throughout the season, including all 15 games on Sunday, July 5. Peacock-exclusive games will also be available on the newly rebranded NBCSN Sports cable network.

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Major League Baseball inks multi-million dollar broadcast deals with Netflix, ESPN, and NBC

 

[amstech]

Netflix shares in the past 6 months have dropped over 10%, thanks in large part to their support of degenerate and radical left wing content. This is a nice change for them.

 

[yRaz]

Netflix shares in the past 6 months have dropped over 10%, thanks in large part to their support of degenerate and radical left wing content. This is a nice change for them.

I think Netflix can come back from this if they want to. Much of the radical left nonsense has left their talking points since the election. The issue is that a very vocal and very radical group of people controlling both parties is judging the direction of politics. It's been my experience that most people are far more moderate than Fox or MSNBC want us to believe and find these groups more of a nuisance than anything

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Interesting to see Netflix dipping further into live sports, but $50M a year feels like a small price for the brand boost they’ll get. The real story is how fragmented MLB viewing is becoming — fans now have to juggle ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Netflix just to follow a season. Great for the leagues, not so great for anyone trying to keep track of where games are actually airing.

This kind of disruption will only get worse as sports broadcasters are drug kicking and screaming into the post TV era. As the boomers die off, TV is going to straight up disappear.

They've all known about this for decades but refused to do anything until now.

I think Netflix can come back from this if they want to. Much of the radical left nonsense has left their talking points since the election. The issue is that a very vocal and very radical group of people controlling both parties is judging the direction of politics. It's been my experience that most people are far more moderate than Fox or MSNBC want us to believe and find these groups more of a nuisance than anything

In short: people don't want politics in their media, nor do they want to be preached to about why they are bad.

Netflix has plenty of staying power, but they need some actual good content to drag people in, and that is much easier said then done.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Not sure how this qualifies as tech news…

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Remember this deal when they raise your subscription to pay for it.