NBC Sports is poised to announce Ahmed Fareed as the host of the new “MLB Sunday Leadoff” program on its Peacock streaming channel.
With Fareed in the host chair, Peacock’s exclusive Sunday morning Major League Baseball package will premiere May 8 with the Boston Red Sox hosting the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park (11 a.m. ET). Under a new deal with MLB, Peacock will livestream NBC Sports-produced baseball games for 18 consecutive weeks.
Fareed noted NBC’s long history with the Grand Old Game, including the first World Series and MLB All-Star Game telecasts (in 1947 and 1952) and more televised World Series than any network (39). He’s proud to follow in the footsteps of past NBC baseball broadcasters such as Bob Costas and Vin Scully.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. Baseball is back on NBC,” said Fareed in an interview with Front Office Sports.
Fareed previously hosted “Quick Pitch” on MLB Network for two years. He also served as a host for NBC in the Bay Area, covering the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s.
On his new show, Fareed wants to celebrate what’s best about the sport in the wake of the recent lockout.
“We’re going to have two local, passionate fan bases hopefully tuning in every Sunday morning on Peacock. But I also hope we get a lot of baseball fans like myself who wake up on a Sunday, turn on the game and get to experience what they have missed in the past week.”
