Get Ready for a Change in MLB Broadcasting

ESPN, NBC, and Netflix are the new players. Is this good or bad for the consumer?

Things are changing fast in the MLB broadcast TV space. MLB recently sold the rights to its popular MLB.tv out-of-market package to ESPN. NBC is taking over Sunday Night Baseball. Netflix will own the streaming space, including special events such as the WBC, the Field of Dreams game, and the Home Run Derby. This new deal is a short one and covers the 2026 thru 2028 seasons.

Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) still own the rights to broadcast in-market games, but there is much turmoil there. Typically, the consumer can only purchase the RSN through a cable TV package. With cord cutting becoming very popular, cable TV isn’t doing very well anymore. Six teams’ broadcast rights have been picked up by MLB media because their RSNs failed. Another nine teams just cancelled their contracts with FanDuel Sports Network, which used to be Bally Sports and Fox Sports before that. These teams are free to renegotiate deals with Fan Duel or can choose to go under the MLB media umbrella.

This leaves only 15 teams under traditional RSNs:

As you can see, many teams have elected to build their own exclusive networks, the most famous of which being YES, SNY, and NESN. Most of these RSNs used to require a cable TV package, but standalone streaming apps are becoming more popular. For example, the NESN 360 app costs $240 for 12 months, or $20 per month. For a consumer that subscribes to a $100+ cable TV package only for access to NESN, this is a big cost savings. Most other RSNs such as YES, SNY, and Marquee now offer standalone apps. Remember, this only covers in-market games and is perfect for the fan who is only interested in their own team’s games.

For the fan who wants to watch many different games, MLB.tv is a great option for out-of-market games. If you live in New England, you aren’t able to watch the Red Sox on MLB.tv due to MLB blackout restrictions, which I think is a very outdated concept for the modern world. Basically, most major sports leagues and owners decided a long time ago that watching your team on TV would mean reduced attendance at home games. This is a very ‘70s concept and needs to be eliminated IMO.

ESPN will take over MLB.tv and will most surely have a streaming option as well. This will still be for out-of-market games only through the life of the contract (2028), but Rob Manfred has indicated that he wants to build one streaming platform where a fan can watch all games. I think most fans would welcome that.

ESPN has owned Sunday Night Baseball forever, but it has become pretty stale in recent years. There is talk of Jason Benetti becoming the new play-by-play broadcaster for NBC and that would be a great thing. He’s terrific in the booth. As for Netflix, who knows? Amazon Prime’s coverage of MLB in 2025 was pretty bad, plus not all fans have these streaming services and will be left out. I’m not a fan of streaming only for sports as it leaves out the fan who can’t afford subscribing to various services. There should always be an over-the-air or cable option. Having said that, current data indicates that more than 50% of viewers have “cut the cord” and dumped their cable packages.

For me, the jury is out on the next 3 years, but I hope starting in 2029 MLB comes up with a plan that is flexible and allows fans to watch games based on their own preferences. Whether you only watch your own team or many teams, there should be affordable options for you. Manfred has been talking about this for some time. It’s time he delivers.