There is another way for fans to find their favorite baseball games.
Roku is the new home of “MLB Sunday Leadoff” games this weekend with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch will be at 1:05 p.m. ET, but other first pitches will be earlier, at 11:35 a.m. ET.
Game broadcasts are produced in partnership with MLB. This Sunday, host Chip Carey, analyst Will Middlebrooks and reporter Alexa Dutt will be on the call.
The Roku service is free without a subscription. The league and Roku statement said roughly 120 million people have access to the service, which can still spark anger when hardcore fans want to find their teams’ games. MLB.TV subscribers can watch all 18 games uncut anywhere in the world.
Roku Sunday opening schedule (Graphic: Courtesy of MLB)
Atlético reported about two weeks ago that the parties in previous talks. NBC’s streamer Peacock was previously a closed house, which the platform built out of baseball. NBC liked the two-year deal, but only wanted to pay about $10 million a year, compared to $30 million per season previously. It’s unclear how much Roku will pay, but it’s a multi-year deal.
Roku will also offer a new Major League Baseball Zone designed to help fans find their teams’ games using the daily service and the fully scheduled MLB FAST channel. FAST Channel is free, ad-free television.
Roku’s concept has more exclusivity than Apple TV+’s current plan to show “Friday Night Baseball.” Like Apple, Roku is the only place fans can watch the game. However, unlike Apple, Roku games will be the only games for an hour and a half to two hours. No other Sunday match may have a first leg before 1:35 p.m.
Last season, the Peacock package started on April 23rd. This year, Roku games won’t start until about a month after the first game, on May 19.
MLB has faced significant television hurdles, most recently when Diamond Sports failed to reach a carriage deal with Comcast that made the 12-team game unavailable to viewers of franchises that have the service.
After one year, MLB also has the option to waive or threaten to cut ESPN’s $550 million annual contract for Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and first-round playoff games. The Disney-owned network has an option in its current agreement to opt out after next season.
ESPN, like Amazon and possibly Apple, wants to be part of the solution to the failed regional sports model as MLB evolves its plans. Roku can become part of the local equation.
MLB has big deals with Fox and TNT Sports. Fox broadcasts are highlighted by the World Series, while TBS, part of TNT Sports, has the league championship series. In the past, MLB streamed games on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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(Photo: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
2024-05-14 07:30:48
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