The Big Lead

NBC has offer to MLB to take over broadcast rights for ESPN: report

No postseason baseball games have aired on NBC in decades, but that would change if the league accepts the reported offer from NBCUniversal.

By J.P. Hoornstra

New York Mets Gary Carter and NBC Sports Bob Costas after the Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox in game 7 of the 1986 World Series at Shea Stadium Oct. 27, 1986.
New York Mets Gary Carter and NBC Sports Bob Costas after the Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox in game 7 of the 1986 World Series at Shea Stadium Oct. 27, 1986. / Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Major League Baseball could become a regular presence on NBC after a 25-year absence.

According to Joe Flint and Jared Diamond of 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 after the 2025 season ends.

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ESPN and MLB announced they were exercising their ends of an opt-out in their contract in February.

Now, NBC becomes the first to formally bid on the former ESPN package that includes "Sunday Night Baseball," the first round of the postseason, and the Home Run Derby. The Journal reports that NBCUniversal's offer would put games on Peacock, NBC's streaming service.

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The exact monetary value of NBCUniversal's offer is not known, but Flint and Diamond report it's for "much less than (ESPN) currently pays."

MLB has not had a regular presence on NBC since 2000. Regular season baseball briefly returned to NBC in 2022, with one game per season on NBC and the remainder on Peacock, but the contract was not renewed after the 2023 season.

Prior to that, American and National League games had aired on NBC from from 1947-89.

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