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Netflix, ESPN, and NBCUniversal Partner With MLB as Sports Streaming Competition Heats Up

Nov 19, 2025 16:35:00 -0500 by Angela Palumbo | #Media

MLB announced a new three-year partnership with Netflix. (Illustration by Barron’s; Dreamstime, Netflix)

Key Points

Major League Baseball fans should get ready for changes to how they watch baseball next year.

MLB announced new three-year partnerships with sports network ESPN, TV Network NBCUniversal, and streaming platform Netflix on Wednesday, as access to live sporting events remains a hot commodity for entertainment companies.

As a part of the agreement, Netflix will open the MLB season with a single game on Opening Night. The streamer will also host the T-Mobile Home Run Derby and special event games that will include the 2026 MLB at Field of Dreams Game and the World Baseball Classic in Japan.

ESPN will get a national 30-game package throughout the season available exclusively on ESPN’s networks and its app. ESPN is also getting the right to sell and distribute MLB.TV—the league’s streaming service—making it possible for fans to purchase and watch games outside of their home territory on MLB.TV through ESPN.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal will be getting the right to Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday Leadoff, and all four Wild Card Series of the postseason.

“Our new media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix provide us with a great opportunity to expand our reach to fans through three powerful destinations for live sports, entertainment, and marquee events,” Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred said in the earnings release.

Shares of Netflix closed down 3.6% on Wednesday, Comcast stock declined 1.8%, and ESPN owner Walt Disney dropped 1.5%.

The new MLB agreements between these networks comes after a shake-up in the baseball world earlier this year. ESPN and MLB announced in February that they were parting ways following a disagreement between the network and the league.

Wednesday’s announcement also comes as entertainment companies are spending big to gain access to sports rights. Streamers recognize that sports are an important asset as fans follow their favorite teams to different platforms. This has become incredibly important as more customers look to cut ties with traditional cable, but don’t want to lose access to watching sporting events.

Netflix is streaming some NFL Christmas games, Peacock hosts Sunday Night Football games, and Amazon.com streams Thursday Football night games. Disney also has its new ESPN streaming app, and Fox has the FOX One streaming platform that hosts sporting events.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com