The way fans watch baseball is about to drastically change, as Major League Baseball tears the Band-Aid off its distribution model and pivots toward a future where linear television and streaming coexist, even if it comes at a cost to both sports leagues and consumers.
The upshot? Welcome back, NBC. All is forgiven, ESPN. And with any luck, “buffering” won’t be a word on fans’ lips as Netflix steps onto the scene.
The league and its new/old distribution partners announced on Nov. 19 broadcast agreements covering the 2026-28 seasons. Various details or frameworks of the agreements have been reported in recent months, but it remains a lot for the average consumer to ingest.
What will it all look like come March? From the most casual fan to the hardcore seamhead, here are a few details as MLB’s new broadcast era dawns:
NBC/Peacock: Sunday Night Baseball and the wild-card round
This game of musical chairs was fast-tracked in February, when ESPN opted out of the final three years of its deal with MLB to broadcast its franchise Sunday Night Baseball and the four wild-card series that kick off the postseason.
The remainder of that deal was for $1.65 billion over three years, a sum agreed upon before the cord-cutting crisis and general collapse of the cable model was further exacerbated. ESPN took the chance to escape.
Now, it’s NBC taking over the Sunday night franchise, and while it may be jarring to see the game’s nationally-televised weekly jewel shift from its original home at ESPN, old heads will recognize baseball’s natural home on NBC.
In the modern Nielsen era, NBC broadcast every World Series from 1968-1976, then alternated years with ABC until CBS’s ill-fated four-year run as primary rightsholder from 1990-93. NBC’s last national dalliance with MLB came in the 1999 World Series, after which Fox Sports acquiree exclusive rights to the Fall Classic.
That won’t change anytime soon: Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery – or, Turner, as you might recognize it – remain MLB’s primary partners, with regular-season games and one league championship series apiece each year through 2028.
After that, however, all bets are off, and we could see in a near-term future World Series rights back on the market and potentially divvied up among multiple rightsholders.
For now? Baseball will tuck into NBC’s canon of prime time Sunday night programming – even if Sunday Night Football and the NBA may boot baseball to Peacock for all but the summer months.
ESPN: An all-30 strategy
For the more hardcore fan, the biggest adjustment might be ESPN taking its $1.65 billion from Sunday Night Baseball and essentially using it to purchase the highly popular MLB.TV package.
The network will control rights for all 30 out-of-market teams and take over the six essentially orphaned markets in which MLB took on production and distribution, largely due to the collapse of Diamond Sports and the regional sports network model.
While MLB will continue producing the in-market games, the agreement allows ESPN to sell or distribute local TV rights for a half-dozen teams. Five of the teams – the Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies – already had their games produced by MLB. A sixth, the Seattle Mariners, will join that mix and fall under ESPN’s auspices this year.
ESPN will also broadcast 30 weeknight games per season. It will continue broadcasting the Little League Classic in August and have rights to games on Memorial Day and the standalone slot the Thursday following the All-Star break, which this year will pit the New York Mets against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 16.
The tonnage makes sense for ESPN, driving consumers to its screens of all sizes during the summer months, when its bread-and-butter of football and collegiate sports are dark. The Athletic reported the $150 annual cost for MLB.TV is expected to remain the same, but it of course gives ESPN significant options to bundle with its larger suite of broadcast inventory.
Subscription fatigue: How much is too much?
That’s something consumers will have to decide. And some of the content will likely fall under a brand they’re already paying for.
Netflix will take over coverage of the Hone Run Derby this July and also broadcast the standalone opening night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. Consider it beta testing for a potentially deeper investment for the streaming giant, which with the NFL and boxing has dipped its toes into live sports.
At a reported 302 million subscribers, many homes won’t have to do much to access the popular Derby.
Peacock is another story. The NBC streaming offshoot is reportedly stuck at 41 million subscribers. Perhaps adding MLB to the Olympics and the one NFL wild card game it broadcasts will move the needle a little, but as of now, a Peacock household remains the exception and not the rule.
The true inflection point will come in September 2026, when eight teams will have their wild card series broadcast on NBC – with at least part of that inevitably kicked over to Peacock.
So, just what is being asked of the consumer who wants to watch their favorite team plus the jewel events in a frictionless fashion?
Well, consider that in-market streaming of your favorite team runs around $30 a month. Throw in Peacock for around $15 a month. Another $20 or so for Netflix. That’s roughly $65 already – and you haven’t yet figured out how to pay for Fox Sports and Turner come playoff time.
For the out-of-market hardcore fan or insatiable ball enthusiast, add another $150 annually for MLB.TV.
That’s a fair investment to stay up with the game. Yet it’s also the cost of doing business – for both league, network and consumer – in this atomized age.
And check back in 2028, when MLB’s entire slate of TV rights – the World Series, All-Star Game and playoffs, MLB.TV and the Sunday night package – will all be back on the market, for the highest bidders.That’s also around the time commissioner Rob Manfred might hope to unify all – or at least most – of MLB’s local television product. Sure, 2026 will bring a lot of disruption to how the game is consumed. But change is only just beginning.