Streaming Service Buys Rights to National Package of Sunday Morning MLB Games
May 14, 2024
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The streaming service provider Roku will air a national package of 18 Sunday morning Major League Baseball games this season starting May 19 with a game between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.
The pact brings yet another streaming content provider into the live sports mix. Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, previously held the rights to MLB’s national Sunday morning package from 2022-23. It streamed 19 games last year. Six games started at 11:30 a.m. ET, 10 started at 12 p.m., and three started at 1 p.m. One game was simulcast on NBC.
Roku will occupy a time slot that varies predictably based on the geographic region. MLB announced the times for all 18 games beginning Sunday and ending Sept. 15.
Roku began as a streaming service with access to apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and other streaming networks. It has more recently added original exclusive programming to its service; MLB programming represents its entrance into live sports programming.
“As television programming, live sports, and the leagues have fragmented across networks, apps, and multiple packages, Roku — home to all of them — plays an increasingly crucial role for viewers and advertisers,” Roku Media president Charlie Collier said in a statement. “With this deal, Roku delivers free, live, weekly Sunday baseball and 24/7 baseball curation, destinations, and channels across our platform. The lead-in to all of television is now the lead-off for Sunday baseball as well. It’s a terrific partnership.”
In addition to the slate of national games, Roku and MLB announced “an all-new MLB Zone to help baseball fans discover live and upcoming games, nightly recaps, highlights, a fully programmed MLB FAST channel, and more across the Roku platform.”
BOSTON, MA – APRIL 9: Former third baseman Will Middlebrooks of the Boston Red Sox is introduced during a 2018 World Series championship ring ceremony before the Opening Day game against the Toronto Blue Jays… BOSTON, MA – APRIL 9: Former third baseman Will Middlebrooks of the Boston Red Sox is introduced during a 2018 World Series championship ring ceremony before the Opening Day game against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 9, 2019 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Middlebrooks will be part of the first broadcast of an MLB game on Roku this Sunday featuring the Boston Red Sox against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
In their press release, MLB and Roku announced the broadcast teams will rotate week-to-week as determined by the markets. Chip Caray (play-by-play), Will Middlebrooks (analyst), and Alexa Datt (reporter) are calling this Sunday’s game. Middlebrooks already works as an analyst for NESN, the Red Sox’s regional sports network. Caray is the Cardinals’ play-by-play voice on Bally Sports Midwest. In addition to her work with Bally Sports Midwest, Datt is the host of MLB Big Inning.
In the release, MLB announced paying subscribers of MLB.tv can watch all 18 matchups “blackout free from anywhere in the world.”
According to the Roku website, the cost of its streaming player starts at $29.99. Roku TVs start at $69.99. However, non-Roku subscribers can also stream the games by downloading the Roku Channel app, which is free and available on Amazon Fire devices, Samsung TVs, and Google TVs. The games are also accessible via therokuchannel.com.
The MLB Sunday Leadoff game can also be viewed on the free Roku mobile app.
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