NBCUniversal and Peacock have come to a deal with the MLB to carry 18 games on Sundays in May 2022. The arrangement comes on the heels of Apple signing an exclusive deal with the MLB for Friday night doubleheader games. The first game will see the Chicago White Sox visit the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston on May 18th. That game starts at 11:30 AM ET. The first six Peacock games will start at the same time with the final 12 starting at Noon ET.
The deal is another in a string that MLB has signed. They’re expanding offerings beyond simple Cable TV contracts and going out to other streamers to get games exclusively. Amazon also streamed 21 New York Yankees games in the New York market last year. The 11:30 AM start time clears them from interfering with already existing contracts with 1:00 PM start time games. Streamers are trying to capture as many exclusive avenues for viewers that they can. Sports is a huge business in television, so it makes plenty of sense to go after that market. Amazon also captured the exclusive streams for NFL’s Thursday Night Football starting this season.
With so many regional sports networks and other contracts, it’s probably a while until Amazon or someone else completely owns the streaming rights to games, but this is the first step.
We’ll keep you updated on what the schedule of the games looks like and if they’re adding any more beyond the month of May.
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