With ESPN opting out of their contract with the MLB, the existence of Sunday Night Baseball is in peril. This article speculates on some platforms who could plausibly make a play for the package and why.
1. Amazon Prime VideoAmazon Prime Video is quickly entering the MLB market, allowing them to expand their flagship sports programming beyond Thursday Night Football. Amazon has purchased a minority stake in Main Street Sports Group, formerly known as Diamond Sports Group, and will be the local streaming home to the RSN conglomerate’s nine remaining teams. Prime Video also recently secured streaming rights to the MLB in Japan, one of the leading international markets for the sport.
A national MLB game package would be the natural next step forward for Amazon Prime Video. They would ideally like to wait until after they see how much of an appetite there is for the games in regional areas, but this is also a streamer that is flush with cash. It would not be surprising to see Sunday Night Baseball continue thanks to Prime Video.
2. Apple TV+
2. Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is already the home of Friday Night Baseball, a national package created specifically for Apple’s streaming service. Adding Sunday Night Baseball would allow Apple to expand their live sports programming, which currently consists of Friday Night Baseball and MLS Soccer. Seeing that Apple TV+ is already the home to nationally televised MLB games, acquiring Sunday Night Baseball would not seem to be out of the question for them.
However, Apple TV+ may find a second MLB package to be redundant. And even if Apple is interested, the MLB may prefer a deal from a platform that does not currently have live coverage of the sport, thereby expanding the MLB’s reach.
3. Roku
Like Apple TV+, Roku already carries national coverage of MLB games. They have the rights to MLB Sunday Leadoff, a package created for Peacock in 2022 and dropped after the 2023 season. Roku isn’t exactly known for their original programming, so an expansion of MLB rights could help them carve out a lane in that sector, so to speak.
However, also like with Apple TV+, Roku would have to evaluate if it’s really worth it to carry two MLB packages. Again, the MLB would also have to evaluate if they want Sunday Night Baseball on a platform already carrying games if they have another offer from someone who does not.
4. Tubi
With ESPN unable to sustain Sunday Night Baseball, it seems unlikely to land on rival network FS1 from Fox Corporation. The latter company could plausibly do what Amazon, Apple, and Roku are doing and put Sunday Night Baseball on their streaming service, Tubi. Tubi doesn’t have the same market share as Prime Video or Roku, but it does get more viewership than the likes of Paramount+, Peacock, and Max despite significantly leas investment. It wouldn’t be Tubi’s first foray into live sports, as the FAST service simulcasted the NFL Super Bowl earlier this year. It also wouldn’t be their first foray into baseball, as they already have an MLB channel dedicated to select past games, including All-Star Games and World Series. Plus, Fox Corporation’s broadcast network FOX is the home of the All-Star Game and the World Series, so putting a weekly regular season game on Tubi could provide some synergy.
However, ESPN’s contract with the MLB averaged $550 million a season. While the MLB would be lucky to secure a new contract of that size with anyone on this list, it especially rings true for someone like Tubi. More likely, a partnership with Tubi would come in the form of more FOX simulcasts.
5. NBC/Peacock
NBC has long aired the NFL’s Sunday Night Football in the fall. They will add NBA games starting in 2026, which will be simulcast on Peacock. Acquiring Sunday Night Baseball for the summer would allow them to have a night dedicated to a major live sport year round. NBC already turned to their NBC Sports division to fill up much of their Sunday programming last summer, so doubling down on sports in the time slot isn’t unimaginable.
If Comcast didn’t just give up an MLB package, it would be conceivable that they would be a leading contender for Sunday Night Baseball. The MLB clearly did not work out as well as they had hoped on Peacock for the MLB Sunday Leadoff games, so an acquisition of Sunday Night Baseball could be a stretch. NBC would also only be able to carry an abridged version of ESPN’s package that does not include late season games or the Wild Card postseason series, as the NBA and NFL would take precedence over the MLB on the linear schedule.
6. The CW
The CW has made a significant shift toward sports since being acquired by Nexstar, including college basketball, WWE, NASCAR, college football, and the long-running talk show Inside The NFL. Acquiring Sunday Night Baseball would see The CW expand their sports coverage further, and would arguably be their highest-profile package.
The CW is also focused on cost-efficient programming, which Sunday Night Baseball in its current capacity is not. It would be more likely to see minor league or collegiate baseball teams play on The CW than national coverage of MLB games.