As MLB looked to expand on its offering and reach, they announced an agreement with NBC Sports in April 2022 for the rights to stream Sunday morning games on Peacock.
The deal was worth a reported $30 million per season and also entailed eventually carrying All-Star Futures Games as well. Peacock was not the only streaming service to buy the rights to MLB games that year as Apple signed a seven-year contract with MLB for the broadcast rights for $85 million per year.
The first broadcast of MLB Sunday Leadoff was a game between the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. Peacock’s coverage included 19 Sunday regular season games during the 2023 season. However, it is looking very likely that it could be moving to a different platform, according to Andrew Marchand of the Athletic:
MLB’s Sunday morning baseball on Peacock could be going, going, gone, executives briefed on the negotiations told The Athletic.
MLB expects to continue the Sunday morning games, known on Peacock as “MLB Sunday Leadoff,” with a new service, according to an executive briefed on the negotiations. The executive said the league and an unnamed platform are closing in on an agreement, which would begin this season. The executive declined to identify what service because negotiations were not finalized.
Despite an expectation for Sunday streams finding a new home, Peacock does have interest in reaching a new agreement with MLB despite negotiations not progressing:
Comcast/NBC, which runs Peacock, remains interested in a deal but for less than the $30 million per season it previously paid, according to executives with knowledge of the negotiations. Talks have been stagnant.
Peacock has branched out beyond just baseball as they broadcasted their first streaming-exclusive NFL Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs in 2023.
Time will tell, but it seems as if Peacock will find more success with their football broadcasts than MLB streams. One reason being there are 162 games in an MLB season, and some fans may not be inclined to find one or two contests per year on Peacock.
Dodgers on Peacock
The Dodgers had one game on Peacock during the 2022 season and another last year, both of which were on the road and played in the East Coast time zone to accommodate for an 11:35 a.m. local start time.
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