Peacock has been updated with official announcements and details. In the latest streaming campaign of Major League Baseball, NBCUniversal’s Peacock will carry a slate of 18 games on Sunday, May.
The arrangement follows Apple’s Friday night doubleheader announcement. Both deals were reported last month, but NBCU officially confirmed Peacock News today. The first game will be to see the Chicago White Sox go to the Boston Red Sox for a game on May 18 at Fenway. That game will start at 11:30 am ET. The first six peacock games will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the final dozen at noon ET.
Previously:
Major League Baseball is on track to create more streaming inroads after resolving a labor dispute with players to save the 2022 season and a splash deal to stream games on Apple TV +.
According to a source familiar with the talks, the league and NBCUniversal are close to finalizing an agreement that will see the slate of 18 games in Peacock. An official announcement could be made early next week.
The Wall Street Journal Agreement reported today, a follow-up New York Post Reported last month. WSJ has set the price at 30 million.
Representatives from NBC Sports and MLB declined a request for comment.
Although the price tag is not cosmic, the deal is the latest sign that the sport is moving away from linear TV and towards streaming. MLB and Apple have just announced that a package of Friday games will be streamed on Apple TV +. In a deal with Yes Network, Amazon streamed 21 New York Yankees games in the New York market last season. Sinclair Broadcast Group, a partner of Yes, the owner of Balis regional sports networks and MLB, is in the midst of shifting their offerings to a set of live-to-consumer streaming services.
In the case of Peacock’s exclusive Sunday games, they will start at 11:30 ET, which will enable them to move away from the regular slate of 1 pm games with existing rights agreements.
ESPN is constantly adding more live games to ESPN + and cross-promoting them through Hulu, which is owned by Disney. HBO Max plans to stream live National Hockey League games. Amazon Prime Video The NFL will begin an exclusive stream of night football on Thursday, starting in September.
For many stakeholders, among them Fox, NBCU, Disney and Paramount, the linear component of the sport, is critically important as a driver of cash flow and as a platform for advertising. The companies’ recent $ 100 billion-plus rights deal with the NFL introduces some streaming material, but also protects traditional TV carriages by 2032.
