Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced a series of new broadcast deals with ESPN, NBC, and Netflix for 2026-28, essentially replacing the final three years of ESPN’s previous deal which the network and MLB opted out of. Part of the restructuring is Sunday Night Baseball now exclusively on NBC and Peacock.
Part of Netflix’s contract with MLB includes an exclusive “opening night” the day before opening day, like how ESPN used to have a lone Sunday Night Baseball game when opening day was on Monday. Next season, the Netflix opening night game is the Giants and Yankees on Wednesday, March 25 in San Francisco.
NBC now has Sunday Night Baseball, a 25-game slate they say is “a mixture of games on NBC/Peacock (in all available Sunday night broadcast windows) and Peacock/NBCSN exclusives,” plus the entire wild card round. That was the bulk of ESPN’s previous commitment, with Netflix taking over broadcasts of the Home Run Derby.
ESPN will continue to have exclusive weeknight games, now 30 per season with the new contract, plus The Little League Classic each year. In addition, ESPN is now the rights holder for MLBtv, which will still be available through MLB platforms in 2026.
New MLB.TV subscribers will be able to purchase and stream the service through the enhanced ESPN App and enjoy its suite of interactive features and functionalities – alongside more than 50,000 other sports events and content from ESPN’s family of networks. Both new and existing MLB.TV subscribers will have the ability to access the service on the ESPN App and through MLB platforms.
ESPN has not decided how it will sell MLB.TV, but it is expected to be at the same $150 per year that subscribers paid when it was under the league’s control. For at least the first year, subscribers will still be able to continue on the MLB app. T-Mobile is expected to continue, allowing fans to receive the service for free.