Opening Day for the 2022 Major League Baseball season is less than a month away and cord cutters may be able to watch live games on Peacock, according to the Wall Street Journal. The league and NBCUniversal’s streaming platform are finalizing a deal that will bring Sunday Morning Baseball to the platform, from the report:
NBCUniversal’s Peacock is finalizing a deal with Major League Baseball for exclusive rights to stream games in a new Sunday time slot, according to people familiar with the discussions, as the league looks to increase digital partnerships.
If the early bird gets the worm then Peacock is looking to secure rights to 18 MLB games that could start as early as 11:30 AM ET, or just before noon, to avoid conflict with games that have an opening pitch at 1 PM ET, according to the report.
Last week, it was reported that MLB and NBC Sports were finalizing a 2-year, $60 million deal, which would bring the Big Show to Peacock, but the WSJ report notes that the Sunday morning games will be exclusive to Peacock and not available on the MLB teams’ regional sports network, or MLB.TV.
In addition to the Sunday games, NBC is expected to have streaming rights to Monday and Wednesday games, which previously aired on ESPN. Those games were not exclusive, but simulcasts from RSNs and blacked out in local markets, similar to how MLB.TV games are blacked out in local markets.
Details regarding the deal between MLB and NBC Sports haven’t been officially announced as of yet. When the pair decide to release a statement fans will have a better understanding of the exclusivity of the broadcasts.
Earlier this month, MLB announced that Friday Night Baseball has a new home on Apple TV+ for the upcoming season. Apple TV+ reportedly paid $85 million per year, over 7 years for the rights to bring Friday night doubleheaders to the platform.