Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Otani (17) pitches during the MLB game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2025.
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Major League Baseball officially announced new three-year media rights deals with NBC, Netflix and ESPN on Wednesday, foreshadowing the league’s more significant television deals in 2028.
The new deal stems from ESPN’s decision to opt out of its “Sunday Night Baseball” package earlier this year. ESPN has signed a new deal with MLB, acquiring rights to MLB.TV and midweek game packages. NBC Sports will take over the Sunday night game, and Netflix will be the new home for the next three Home Run Derbies. All contracts begin with the 2026 season.
CNBC previously reported most of the details of the agreement in August.
“Our new media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix provide us with a tremendous opportunity to expand our reach to fans through three powerful destinations for live sports, entertainment and high-profile events,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
The new deal foreshadows MLB’s efforts to increase TV revenue, as it will regain those rights, as well as existing rights from Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, at the end of the 2028 season.
It’s not an exact apples-to-apples comparison, but MLB had to take a haircut of about $300 million a year compared to what ESPN was paying before opting out earlier this year. NBC is paying about $200 million a year for the new package, and Netflix is paying about $50 million a year for Darby, CNBC reported in August. Together, the two packages are roughly equivalent to what ESPN paid.
Still, MLB has an opportunity to expand its reach through a new exclusive streaming partner.
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball averaged 1.8 million viewers last season.
The decline in Sunday night package revenue suggests that MLB may need to get creative with how it builds new packages for games in 2028 to ensure media revenue continues to grow. All told, the league is now increasing its overall media revenue, but it has had to sell ESPN rights and games it didn’t previously offer. ESPN is paying about $550 million for the new package, CNBC reported in August.
The NBA nearly tripled its national media revenue in its latest rights deal, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC in September that the NFL is confident it will see significant increases in the deals it signs in 2021 and is prepared to accelerate negotiations with its current media partners as early as next year.
New transaction details
ESPN’s new deal will allow MLB.TV, the league’s out-of-market streaming service, to be sold and distributed through the ESPN app. ESPN will also receive a new package of 30 live games midweek on ESPN’s linear network and the ESPN app.
ESPN also sells and distributes in-market games for MLB Network and select MLB teams through the ESPN app. Those teams are the Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies, whose games are now produced and distributed by MLB franchises after the collapse of the regional sports networks that supported them.
NBC will air MLB, NBA and NFL on Sunday on its broadcast network, new cable sports channel and Peacock streaming service. NBC also carries the entire MLB Wild Card Round, which ranges from eight to 12 games each season.
Netflix will own the rights to the Home Run Derby for three years, plus a single game on opening night for the next three seasons. Netflix will also exclusively stream all 47 games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic to viewers in Japan.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
