America's Major League Baseball (MLB) has signed a slew of deals with broadcast and streaming giants to air select games over the next three seasons.
Netflix, the world's largest streaming service, will air special baseball games that attract millions of viewers every year. These include an exclusive league premiere and the Home Run Derby, where players compete to hit the most home runs.
Media companies ESPN and NBCUniversal also acquired rights to other MLB-related programming.
The three-year agreements will help the league expand its reach, baseball commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. said.
Beginning with the 2026 season, the new agreement will give ESPN rights to MLB.TV, an on-demand service that allows viewers to watch teams outside their local region. MLB said Wednesday..
He did not provide details about expected MLB.TV subscription fees or the cost of the three agreements.
Meanwhile, Comcast-owned NBCUniversal will take over Sunday night games, bringing regular games back to its network for the first time in a quarter century.
As part of the deal, Netflix will also broadcast the World Baseball Classic in Japan.
The agreements will expand MLB coverage across multiple platforms.
Fox Sports will continue to air the World Series and other games, and Apple TV will air back-to-back Friday Night Baseball games.
The deals come as ESPN reportedly gave up the final three seasons of its contract this year, which would have given the channel the rights to many of those MLB programs.
The contract would have cost ESPN more than $1.5 billion (£1.15 billion) over the next three seasons.
ESPN's refusal led to protracted negotiations with the league and several platforms to show its games.
