MLB forms new three-year media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix

ESPN To Acquire Rights to MLB.TV and a Midweek Game Package

NBCUniversal Secures Rights For NBC, NBCSN & Peacock to Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday Leadoff and Entire Wild Card Round

Netflix to Carry T-Mobile Home Run Derby, Opening Night Exclusive, and Special Events, including in 2026 - MLB at Field of Dreams Game and World Baseball Classic in Japan

Major League Baseball has formed new three-year media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix. The agreements, which will cover rights for the 2026-2028 MLB seasons, will extend MLB and ESPN's long-term relationship to 39 consecutive seasons, mark the return of NBC to regularly airing MLB games on its broadcast network for the first time in 26 years, and expand Netflix's partnership with MLB from original programming to live baseball event coverage 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," said Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. "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."

ESPN

ESPN has secured the rights to sell and distribute MLB.TV, the league's out of market streaming service, across ESPN's industry leading digital and streaming platforms. Starting with the 2026 season, fans will now be able to purchase and watch their favorite teams' games outside of their home territory on MLB.TV through ESPN. In 2025, MLB.TV set a record with 19.4 billion minutes-watched breaking last year's full-season record of 14.5 billion by +34%.

An MLB partner since 1990, ESPN will receive a national 30-game package throughout the season available exclusively on ESPN's linear networks as well as the ESPN app. ESPN will have rights to Memorial Day game coverage and televise the second half opener coming out of the All-Star break when two-time MVP Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies host Juan Soto and the New York Mets as the only game scheduled on Thursday, July 16. ESPN also will continue to carry the Little League Classic presented by New York Life, which will feature Ronald Acuña Jr. and the Atlanta Braves facing Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, August 23 from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series. In addition, ESPN will stream over 150 out-of-market games, one per day, via the ESPN app. In 2025, ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball game coverage recorded its best season in 12 years (2013) with an average viewing audience of 1.8 million viewers, a +21% increase over last year's total.

ESPN has secured the right over the term to sell and distribute, via the ESPN app, MLB Network and in-market games for the select MLB teams whose games are being produced and distributed by the league. Fans will have the ability to purchase these subscriptions either independently, as part of a bundle with MLB.TV, or packaged with an ESPN subscription. For the 2026 season, the local in-market streaming products will continue to be available through MLB's platforms.

"This fan-friendly agreement allows us to showcase the great sport of baseball on both a local and national level, while prioritizing our streaming future," said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN. "MLB.TV is a coveted, must-have companion for passionate MLB fans all over the country, and it will be strongly complemented by our national game package and in-market team rights - all within the ESPN App."

NBCUNIVERSAL

NBCUniversal has secured a package of rights that includes Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday Leadoff, and all four Wild Card Series of the Postseason. This partnership marks the first media rights agreement between MLB, NBC and Peacock to bring a slate of regular season and Postseason games to NBC's broadcast channel, NBCSN (NBC Sports' new cable network) and Peacock's streaming service since the network last carried games in 2000.* NBC first aired MLB games in 1947, Jackie Robinson's first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. From 1947 to 1989 and then from 1994 to 2000, NBC was the home of numerous World Series, All-Star Games, NBC Games of the Week and some of the most memorable moments in baseball history.

Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock will continue to be the only MLB game scheduled on Sunday nights. Some Sunday night games will stream on Peacock and simulcast on NBCSN during weeks there is overlap with previously negotiated media rights deals on NBC. NBC and Peacock also will air select special event games including primetime matchups on Opening Day and Labor Day. In 2026, NBC Sports' first game of the season will air in primetime on NBC and stream on Peacock on Opening Day, Thursday, March 26, with the Arizona Diamondbacks visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers, when four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and the two-time defending champions begin their attempt to win a third straight World Series title.

In 2026, NBCUniversal will also gain a presence during All-Star Week. The MLB Draft will move to the Saturday of All-Star Week where NBC and Peacock will present the first hour of the event. Peacock/NBCSN and MLB Network will carry the remainder of the first round. NBC and Peacock also will present the Futures Game, a game featuring baseball's future stars who are the top players in Minor League Baseball on All-Star Sunday. That game will be followed by a new event that will feature former players and celebrities which will be streamed on Peacock.

Peacock will regain rights to MLB's Sunday Leadoff game, which it carried for the 2022-23 seasons. Sunday Leadoff will be a package of 18 games that start prior to or around Noon locally on Sundays and will also be simulstreamed on NBCSN. Sunday Leadoff will be followed by MLB Network-produced studio coverage of the full day of games which will lead into Sunday Night Baseball on NBC and Peacock, or NBCSN and Peacock. Peacock will also regularly feature a game of the day, which will be available to fans outside of the markets of the Clubs competing.

"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," said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. "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!"

* NBC aired one game in 2022 and 2023 as a lead-in to the Sunday Leadoff package on Peacock.

NETFLIX

Following a successful series of baseball documentaries, Netflix will air live events and games for both Major League Baseball globally and, as previously announced, the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Japan.

Netflix will open the MLB season the next three years with a singular game on Opening Night, the evening prior to a full slate of traditional Opening Day games. In 2026, Netflix will open the season with the New York Yankees and seven-time All-Star, three-time A.L. MVP and Northern California native Aaron Judge visiting Rafael Devers and the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, March 25.

Netflix will air the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, the most-watched skills competition in sports, the day before the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. The Derby debuted in 1985 as part of MLB's All-Star festivities and has featured memorable performances from the game's top sluggers over the last 40 years including three-time champion Ken Griffey Jr. and current stars who won the event like Giancarlo Stanton, Judge, Harper, two-time champ Pete Alonso, Soto, Vlad Guerrero Jr., and reigning champ Cal Raleigh.

In 2026, Netflix will air MLB at Field of Dreams live from Dyersville, Iowa on August 13. MLB's return to the iconic movie set for the first time in four years will feature the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies. In 2026, MLB Network's Emmy Award-winning production team will produce Opening Night, the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, and MLB at Field of Dreams in partnership with Netflix's production team. Netflix will stream an MLB special event game each year.

As announced last month, Netflix will exclusively deliver, live and on demand, all 47 games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic to its audience in Japan. The agreement to stream live baseball games and events follows Netflix and Major League Baseball's recent collaborations of globally-distributed and critically-acclaimed documentaries including the Emmy Award-winning The Turnaround (2024), the Emmy Award-winning The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox (2024) and The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox (2025).

"We are incredibly thankful for our partnership with Major League Baseball," said Bela Bajaria, Chief Content Officer, Netflix. "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."

Existing Partners

FOX/FS1 will continue to be the home of the World Series presented by Capital One, League Championship and Division Series presented by Booking.com, All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, regular season games primarily on Saturdays, World Baseball Classic, and special event games. TBS will continue to be the home of League Championship and Division Series presented by Booking.com telecasts, plus regular season games on Tuesday nights. Apple TV will continue to stream "Friday Night Baseball" doubleheaders throughout the regular season. MLB Network will continue to air live games, including its "Showcase" package and its Emmy Award-winning studio shows.

Major League Baseball completed the 2025 regular season and Postseason with large viewership increases. The World Series featured the most-watched game in 34 years (51.0 million for Game Seven across the U.S., Canada, and Japan), most-viewed World Series in 33 years (34.0 million viewers for the seven-game Series combined in the U.S., Canada and Japan), and the most-watched Postseason in eight years (6.33 million average viewers per game domestically). In addition to drawing its third consecutive increase in attendance for the first time since 2007, the 2025 MLB regular season registered viewership increases across all of its national television partners, locally on regional sports networks, streaming on MLB.TV, and many international markets. The league also drove double digit viewership increases across its national partners in audiences 17 & under as well as with 18-34 year-olds.