MLB signs three-year broadcast deals with NBC and Netflix, ending ESPN's Sunday night monopoly in US baseball

Summary

Major League Baseball announced new three-year broadcast deals with NBC/Peacock, Netflix and ESPN on 19 November 2025, taking effect from the 2026 season through 2028. NBC acquires Sunday Night Baseball, a package it last held 26 years ago before ESPN secured it in 2000, along with the Wild Card Series and a Sunday Leadoff afternoon package across NBC broadcast and the Peacock streaming service. Netflix gains its first live regular-season Mlb games, starting with Opening Night, the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams Game, as well as the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Japan. ESPN retains a 30-game midweek package and acquires the rights to sell and distribute MLB.TV, paying US$550 million for its reduced bundle. The short three-year term reflects MLB's strategy of staying flexible ahead of a much larger rights auction expected in 2029.

The split

US media-industry coverage framed the deals as a three-stage disruption: NBC's return to baseball as a competitive bid against ESPN marked the end of an effective broadcast monopoly; Netflix's entry into live regular-season sports signals the first time the platform has acquired rights to non-event live games in the United States; and ESPN's smaller package and payment reduction reflects its diminished leverage as cord-cutting erodes its cable subscriber base. Sports media analysts in the US treated the three-year term as a deliberate staging decision, with Manfred quoted positioning the 2029 auction as the real prize. International media tracked whether the MLB.TV streaming distribution deal with ESPN would expand global reach.

By the numbers

• 2026-28, the three-year term of the new deals
• 1990-2025, ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball run (35 years, ended under this deal)
• US$550 million, ESPN's payment for its new reduced bundle including MLB.TV distribution
• 26 years, NBC's absence from live MLB coverage before this deal
• 1st live regular-season MLB game broadcast rights for Netflix
• 30-game midweek package acquired by ESPN

Why it matters

The Media Rights restructuring signals that the US sports broadcasting landscape is genuinely competitive again after decades of ESPN dominance. For MLB specifically, the three-platform strategy maximises near-term revenue while preserving optionality for 2029. Netflix's entry into live game rights, even for a modest initial package, is treated as a crossing-the-Rubicon moment that will accelerate rights inflation across US sports leagues. The NBC return also reaffirms that over-the-air broadcast plus streaming bundles can outbid cable-only incumbents when backed by large streaming platforms.

What to watch

• Netflix subscriber and viewership metrics from its first MLB regular-season telecasts in 2026
• Whether NBC's Sunday Night Baseball audiences rival or exceed ESPN's comparable ratings
• MLB's 2029 rights auction and whether the short-term deal proves a ceiling or a floor
• How other US sports leagues (NBA, NFL) respond to Netflix entering live sports