MLB is currently hustling to get a chunk of its national live rights in order after ESPN opted out of its deal for Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and the wild-card playoff round.
Last week, Puck’s John Ourand reported MLB has had “early” talks with companies including NBCUniversal, Netflix, and Amazon, but noted that the talks “are as focused on 2028, when all of baseball’s national rights go on the block” versus just encompassing the package that ESPN opted out of.
One source told Front Office Sports that the idea of adding MLB “intrigues” NBC in part because it would mean that the network could have a premium live sporting event on Sunday nights all year long. NBC plans to build on the great success of Sunday Night Football by putting big NBA games in that slot after football season. Baseball could theoretically cover the remainder of the calendar.
Nevertheless, another source posed a question of the obvious possible roadblock: “At what price?”
An NBC spokesperson declined to comment.
ESPN was slated to pay $550 million per year through 2028, and The Wall Street Journal reported the network was willing to commit “no more than $200 million a year.” Last year, ESPN’s Sunday night package averaged 1.51 million viewers for the season, its highest ratings since 2019.
It has been widely reported that MLB rights deals where Apple pays $85 million for Friday night games and Roku pays $10 million for a Sunday package rankled ESPN.
The Fit
MLB and NBC have a lengthy history together, as they were partners from 1947 to 1989 and 1994 to 2000. There was also a Sunday package on NBC’s Peacock streaming service from 2022 to 2023.
NBC does a great job of presenting the NFL and the Olympics, with crisp production and broadcasters. It would be a great home for MLB if the financials made sense for both sides.
September would be a tricky month for baseball due to Sunday Night Football, but NBC could air baseball and football in different windows, or put baseball on Peacock. The network also has NASCAR races on Sundays.
“I think the market is going to be surprised at the enthusiasm and uptake on the interest in these sets of rights,” Braves chairman Terry McGuirk said, regarding the Sunday rights.
Fox has the biggest tranche of MLB rights, which includes the annual World Series package.
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