Major League Baseball has joined the sports rights free-for-all, sealing 3-year deals with media partners NBCUniversal, ESPN and Netflix.
The league and its partners did not comment on the value of the deals, but the Wall Street Journal pegged it at $800 million a year. As viewers and advertisers continue to flock to live sports, rights deals for the NBA, Formula 1, the UFC and other leagues have seen steep increases of late. In streaming, this has translated to price increases for consumers as the cost gets absorbed into the ecosystem.
Coming off a bravura finish to the 2025 season, with the Los Angeles Dodgers coming from behind to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series as TV ratings surged, the league was in a solid negotiating position. It also had a number of willing buyers. Netflix will stream games for the first time, using them to further its live-event and advertising goals; NBCU will return them to its broadcast flagship for the first time in decades, positioning them alongside NBA and NFL telecasts; and longtime partner ESPN is using the new deal to right-size its portfolio.
Before the 2025 season began, the Disney sports division let it be known that it planned to walk away from a decades-long partnership with baseball, before later warming up to the idea of continuing on a scaled-down basis. In returning, it will continue with regular games but leave its longtime Sunday Night Baseball franchise to NBC.
The agreements are starting at an uneasy time for MLB in terms of its labor outlook. The league’s collective bargaining agreement with players expires after the 2026 season.
The players’ union is expected to push back aggressively at efforts by owners to implement a salary cap. Without a cap in place, player salaries have mushroomed, with recent deals for New York Mets slugger Juan Soto and Dodgers dual threat Shohei Ohtani topping $700 million. Baseball observers and media members have settled into the stance that the entire 2027 season could be at risk if owners lock out players and no new CBA is set.
The NBCU deal will kick off with the Dodgers playing the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 26 in prime time, with the game preceded by a ceremony marking their 2025 championship.
The agreement spans NBC, NBCSN and Peacock, including prime time’s Sunday Night Baseball, and the entire wild card round of the postseason.
As with the NBA, the media company is returning to a league it had long carried.
“We are excited to reignite NBC Sports’ storied Major League Baseball history through this comprehensive and innovative partnership that will honor the past and create new traditions,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports.
Netflix will carry multiple games a year, including on Opening Day. The streaming giant will also air the Home Run Derby during the All-Star Game break in July, as well as the Field of Dreams Game from Iowa each summer.
“We are incredibly thankful for our partnership with Major League Baseball. We started with critically acclaimed documentaries, deepening the existing global passion for baseball,” says Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria of the deal. “Now, we are seizing that moment by bringing massive cultural spectacles – from Opening Night to the Home Run Derby – directly to our members, reinforcing Netflix as the ultimate home for both the story and the sport.”