Major TV Network Makes Play For MLB Rights. If They Get It, Look Out

NBC is making a play for Major League Baseball, and that's not all.

NBC is closing in on taking over the entire sports world, from the NFL to Major League Baseball. That first one you obviously already know about. Sunday Night Football on NBC has been a staple for decades. 

But that last one? Yeah, that's a bit of a curveball. (See what I did there?!)

According to the Wall Street Journal, NBC has made a play for the rights to MLB, which is currently in its last season with ESPN. Those two entities decided to call it quits earlier this year, with Rob Manfred opting out of the contract, which has been in place since 1990.

While ESPN has still showed interest in keeping the baseball package, NBC has gone ahead and tossed its hat in the ring to take over the MLB TV rights beginning next season. That package includes Sunday Night Baseball, the playoffs, and the home run derby, potentially. 

NBC is going all in on sports

From the Wall Street Journal:

NBCUniversal has made an offer to Major League Baseball to take over the package of regular-season and postseason games that ESPN is walking away from, offering much less than its rival currently pays, according to people familiar with the matter.

If the bid is successful, NBC would air games on Sunday night, the slot ESPN has occupied since 1990. Games would also appear on NBC’s sister streaming service, Peacock. NBC is also interested in ESPN’s rights to the first round of the postseason and the annual Home Run Derby. 

The NBC offer was made earlier this month, but MLB and NBC had been talking for several weeks prior to that, one of the people involved said. League commissioner Rob Manfred has also discussed a potential deal with Brian Roberts, chief executive of NBC parent Comcast, people familiar with the matter said. 

Thoughts? Comments? First impressions? 

I'm sort of all over the place on this one. I'll start here: I loved Manfred giving ESPN the finger. Loved it. ESPN has disrespected baseball for years now. Years. Their coverage of opening day two months ago was disgraceful. They completely ignored it for most of the day, and then showed a Dodgers game that night. 

The end. 

ESPN has clearly gone all in on the NBA, despite awful ratings. Yes, I know ratings were somewhat better this year. But, let's not be silly here; they're still awful. 

Conversely, last Sunday night's game between the Mets and Yankees on ESPN drew the biggest audience (3 million) for a game since 2017. 

Anyway, I'm all for MLB taking its business elsewhere. Now, does NBC make sense? Maybe. Maybe not. It'll be tricky for the folks making the decisions over there. 

NBC has Sunday Night Football. They also have the NBA starting next season. They also have NASCAR for half the year, golf, the Kentucky Derby, the Olympics, Notre Dame football, and a Saturday night Big Ten game every week in the fall. 

Now, let's go ahead and add Major League Baseball to that list, and it's certainly a jam-packed schedule – especially in the fall. 

Sunday Night Football obviously gets the main network for 18 weeks in the fall. It's the highest-rated ‘show’ every single year, by a wide margin. Does that mean Sunday Night Baseball gets relegated to Peacock? Probably. Certainly, actually. 

But what happens when the MLB playoffs roll around? What if there's an elimination wild card game on a Sunday night in early October? Are you pushing a Yankees-Red Sox Game 3 to Peacock because of Sunday Night Football? You have to, but it's gonna come with some pushback. 

Obviously, this is all hypothetical right now. It sounds like a lowball offer from NBC, so perhaps negotiations stall down the road and Manfred takes his business elsewhere? Who knows? 

But, should they go through with this, NBC would immediately become the mecca of sports-viewing. 

So, basically, brush up on your Peacock subscriptions. 

Written by
Zach grew up in Florida, lives in Florida, and will never leave Florida ... for obvious reasons. He's a reigning fantasy football league champion, knows everything there is to know about NASCAR, and once passed out (briefly!) during a lap around Daytona. He swears they were going 200 mph even though they clearly were not.