MLB Deal to Bring Sunday Games to Peacock

Major League Baseball deals are happening at a torrid pace — and not just between players and teams.

The league is nearing a streaming deal with NBCUniversal that would bring 18 regular-season games to Peacock, starting this year.

• The two-year deal is reportedly worth $30 million annually.
• The deal creates a new Sunday package of games that would start between 11:30 a.m. ET to just after noon, reducing conflicts with games that begin at 1 p.m. ESPN holds the rights to “Sunday Night Baseball.”
• Peacock, which carries a $9.99 monthly subscription cost, will hold exclusive rights to the games. The service had 24.5 million active users at the end of 2021 and 9 million paying subscribers.

Peacock has been building out its sports portfolio, which now includes certain English Premier League matches and WWE. NBCUniversal’s deal with the NFL, which begins in 2023, includes “Sunday Night Football,” NBC’s playoff games, and four Super Bowls on Peacock.

Stream Change

After relying largely on regional sports networks for local broadcasts and its own MLB.TV streaming service for out-of-market games, MLB is looking for new partners for its 2,430 annual regular-season games.

The league inked a seven-year deal worth $85 million annually with Apple for a package of Friday night games — the tech giant’s first jump into live sports.