Apple Reportedly Finalist for MLB's Sunday Night and Wild Card Games

[MacRumors]

Apple and NBC appear to be the "final contenders" for the rights to MLB's "Sunday Night Baseball" package, and "presumably" even Wild Card postseason games, according to a report this week from The Athletic's Andrew Marchand.

Netflix and ESPN also remain in negotiations with MLB officials, the report said.

ESPN held the rights to Sunday Night Baseball through the 2028 season, but the network and MLB mutually opted out of the $550-million-per-year contract earlier this year, so ESPN's rights now expire after the 2025 season. Apple is now looking to pick up those final three seasons, along with NBC, while ESPN might negotiate a new weekday package.

Apple TV+ already streams MLB's Friday Night Baseball games, and the service could offer Sunday Night Baseball too if Apple wins the rights.

ESPN also held the rights to the Wild Card Series for the American League and National League, so Apple might land those postseason games as well. However, the report said MLB could decide to split the Sunday Night and Wild Card rights.

Netflix is a frontrunner for MLB's annual Home Run Derby, according to the report.

Following the 2028 season, all regional and national MLB media rights will be expired, and the league is hoping to table a bigger all-in-one package of rights. Apple would likely be very interested in such a package, as it would allow the company to offer an MLB equivalent of MLS Season Pass through the Apple TV app. However, MLB is much bigger than MLS, so it remains to be seen if MLB would be willing to go all-in with Apple.

Apple continues to push into sports content, with the company reportedly likely to secure the rights to Formula 1 racing. In the past, the company unsuccessfully bid on the NFL's "Sunday Ticket" package, and on the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

On a related note, Apple TV+ subscribers can watch Bayern Munich superstar Thomas Müller make his MLS debut with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC for free this Sunday, with his match against the Houston Dynamo FC kicking off at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Finalist for MLB's Sunday Night and Wild Card Games

 

[Joe Rossignol]

Editor's note: one of my fav Wild Card moments, as a (casual) Blue Jays fan.

 

[fenderbass146]

Want to kill sports? This is how you do it. So sick of streaming platforms getting exclusive rights to sports. Baseball is the worst. While the sport is dying (which breaks my heart, I love the game. Going to the Savannah Bannanas tonight!) they are doing nothing to increase viewership by making it more difficult to find and watch games between exlusive deals and blackouts.

 

[yanki01]

Want to kill sports? This is how you do it. So sick of streaming platforms getting exclusive rights to sports. Baseball is the worst. While the sport is dying (which breaks my heart, I love the game. Going to the Savannah Bannanas tonight!) they are doing nothing to increase viewership by making it more difficult to find and watch games between exlusive deals and blackouts.

agree. I want to take my kids to see the Bananas but tickets are nuts if you can find any.

I love baseball, played it as a kid and my kids love it now. I don't care for the ESPN broadcast for Sunday Night Baseball (or any of their sports broadcast). I wish they would just let TBS or FS1 handle this. I'm not going to bother with Apple+ to stream games. 🏴‍☠️

Yankees fan living in way South TX and cannot watch either Rangers or Astros. Houston is over 300miles away and Arlington is over 450miles away from me and both are blacked out. these blackouts need to end if they want more people watching baseball.

streaming a playoff game is just an insane move.

 

[Biro]

Want to kill sports? This is how you do it. So sick of streaming platforms getting exclusive rights to sports. Baseball is the worst. While the sport is dying (which breaks my heart, I love the game. Going to the Savannah Bannanas tonight!) they are doing nothing to increase viewership by making it more difficult to find and watch games between exlusive deals and blackouts.

Despite the fact that Apple does a good job with MLB coverage, I really hate this trend toward games on paid streaming services. Not only that, but MLB has the product spread out across many platforms - meaning it can be difficult to find the game your looking for. Big-time sports franchise owners can’t help themselves. They’re chasing short-term profits while putting the long-term future of the sport at risk. MLB should be on free broadcast TV or, at the very least, basic cable. I don’t imagine Congress will help. How about getting MLB to drop its blackout rule - or risk losing its antitrust exemption?

 

[Nada Ting]

Want to kill sports? This is how you do it. So sick of streaming platforms getting exclusive rights to sports. Baseball is the worst. While the sport is dying (which breaks my heart, I love the game. Going to the Savannah Bannanas tonight!) they are doing nothing to increase viewership by making it more difficult to find and watch games between exlusive deals and blackouts.

Add to that the droning, semi-conscious announcers who do little to connect viewers to the game, show only staged interest, and cannot offer any insights or anecdotes.

 

[mlayer]

MLB is committing seppuku by not having some kind of deal with ESPN, whether it’s Sunday Night Baseball or something else. It’s basically giving ESPN an excuse to minimize coverage of the sport, simply baffling. I love MLB and Apple TV+. This doesn’t make me like them more or provide more value to either. And Peacock? Might as well put up the white flag.

 

[austinmm6]

MLB is committing seppuku by not having some kind of deal with ESPN, whether it’s Sunday Night Baseball or something else. It’s basically giving ESPN an excuse to minimize coverage of the sport, simply baffling. I love MLB and Apple TV+. This doesn’t make me like them more or provide more value to either. And Peacock? Might as well put up the white flag.

They are leaving ESPN because it barely covers the sport, and doesn't cover the games it's covering live. All MLB fans know that when their team is on ESPN, they will be watching anything but their team during the broadcast.

 

[syklee26]

Vision pro integration would take AVP to the next level. Still waiting

 

[jicon]

Editor's note: one of my fav Wild Card moments, as a (casual) Blue Jays fan.

Most eye opening thing watching that is realizing... yes, the seating updates they did the past couple years have made Skydome a bit more pleasant to watch a game now... *if the roof is open.

 

[mlayer]

They are leaving ESPN because it barely covers the sport, and doesn't cover the games it's covering live. All MLB fans know that when their team is on ESPN, they will be watching anything but their team during the broadcast.

They will be going from barely covering to not covering. Ask the NHL how it dealt with that.

 

[ipedro]

Want to kill sports? This is how you do it. So sick of streaming platforms getting exclusive rights to sports. Baseball is the worst. While the sport is dying (which breaks my heart, I love the game. Going to the Savannah Bannanas tonight!) they are doing nothing to increase viewership by making it more difficult to find and watch games between exlusive deals and blackouts.

"Want to kill sports? Put it on cable." — sports fans in the 80s

Format transitions aren't new. This has all happened before.

If you want to kill sports, you keep it on cable. Nobody under 20 is watching linear TV anymore. Cable is dying and people are watching all of their entertainment via streaming, and not just on TV but mostly on their phones. Sports has to follow to streaming if it's going to survive the demise of cable too.

If you're too cheap to subscribe to a streaming service to watch the sports you like, then you were too cheap to subscribe to cable where sports have been on for the past 40 years.

 

[Mcsnee]

"Want to kill sports? Put it on cable." — sports fans in the 80s

Format transitions aren't new. This has all happened before.

If you want to kill sports, you keep it on cable. Nobody under 20 is watching linear TV anymore. Cable is dying and people are watching all of their entertainment via streaming, and not just on TV but mostly on their phones. Sports has to follow to streaming if it's going to survive the demise of cable too.

If you're too cheap to subscribe to a streaming service to watch the sports you like, then you were too cheap to subscribe to cable where sports have been on for the past 40 years.

I don't know what you're arguing about, but it's not the same thing the rest of us are arguing about.

I subscribe to multiple streaming services. I have even been a subscriber to MLB's own streaming service in the past, which--frankly--should be THE WAY I GET TO WATCH EVERY BASEBALL GAME I WANT TO WATCH.

It isn't, of course, thanks to deals like this one balkanizing coverage across multiple streaming services, with those various deals changing annually.

 

[Baseiseough]

Broadcast sports any day you want, but don't raise subscription price for it. I like Apple TV+ for its series and movies, not for baseball, racing cars and soccer.

And please, allow us to remove the sports and MLS selections in the Apple TV menu bar.

 

[Redlegs20]

While I don’t like multiple streaming services to watch one sport… the MLB did more harm by nerfing some of the minor league teams AND signing so many local broadcasting rights that it blacked out games for most viewers. For years, I couldn’t legally watch the Reds even being hours away from Cincy. It all sucks… but at least this year I can watch with FanDual and Apple TV. Doesn’t mean we are going to make the postseason… but I can watch them lose.

 

[fenderbass146]

"Want to kill sports? Put it on cable." — sports fans in the 80s

Format transitions aren't new. This has all happened before.

If you want to kill sports, you keep it on cable. Nobody under 20 is watching linear TV anymore. Cable is dying and people are watching all of their entertainment via streaming, and not just on TV but mostly on their phones. Sports has to follow to streaming if it's going to survive the demise of cable too.

If you're too cheap to subscribe to a streaming service to watch the sports you like, then you were too cheap to subscribe to cable where sports have been on for the past 40 years.

Most games were available on basic cable and over the air and stayed the same throughout for years at a time. If I want to watch every game now betweene blackouts and streaming services or exclusive cable channels like YES and Marquee you need to constantly be on the lookout and aware of how you need to watch your favorite team. It's a ********.

Besides the product on the field being ****, you know why there are so many more cubs fans then sox fans around the city and country....because the cubs stayed on over the air TV WGN for decades and anyone could watch them.

 

[ZipZilla]

This is good news, the games on Apple TV are of very high quality. Still, I think MLB is a very casually watched sport, so I think the free streaming services are the better play, or ones that are so ubiquitous most people have them (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) Putting the games on Apple and Peacock could alienate a lot of people.

 

[zoozx]

BB is dying. Prices & Saleries are out of control.
3/4 of the teams are irrelevant.
Strike and Cap are coming, its the only way to survive .

 

[ZiBart]

BB is dying. Prices & Saleries are out of control.
3/4 of the teams are irrelevant.
Strike and Cap are coming, its the only way to survive .

MLB is far from dying or suffering any economic consequences due to out of control prices and salaries. Right now, people are obsessed with live entertainment. And they continue to over pay for tickets for sporting, music, comedy etc.. It would take over a decade straight worth of low attendance and no buyers for tv rights. I definitely watch it way less than I used to and other sports have taken eyes away from MLB as well over the past decade but it's too big to fail anytime soon. Apple (and others bids) prove it. And there is no shortage of billionaires ready to swoop in and overpay for these teams as well. MLB, like all live content is selling itself in parts to the highest bidder. A lot of people (like me) watch game highlights on YouTube to keep in touch with their sport. Its free and condensed for our shrinking attention span as a society

 

[Macbookey]

Editor's note: one of my fav Wild Card moments, as a (casual) Blue Jays fan.

Hope the Jays make some new memories this year akin to that or Jolting Joe’s walk-off championship homer in 93. Don’t have TV+(doesn’t interest me after a good sampling on several occasions), so had to sit out last night’s wild game and the Jays 39th comeback win this season. Most bleed blue and white in Toronto for the Leafs, but for me it has always been the Jays. What an exciting few months it has been, and let’s see what happens the rest of the way.

 

[akeripper]

correct me if im wrong but isnt baseball on apple tv only for american subscribers........
this sucks since this one cant see them in sweden....

 

[Macbookey]

correct me if im wrong but isnt baseball on apple tv only for american subscribers........
this sucks since this one cant see them in sweden....

We get it here in Canada. Not sure internationally. Probably because the Blue Jays are in the MLB and their Friday night games have been there on a number of occasions. All the blackout restrictions on sports and the cable gods, as well as the ever increasing costs of numerous subscriptions is making a mess of things. I know a bunch of Jays fans that get triggered when they can’t see the games that are TV+ exclusive, and don’t want to pay for it on top of their already extortion level cable bills, from the oligopoly that runs things in Canada. MLB at bat is not an option here either, as Jays games are all blacked out due to program rights in my region.

Makes no sense that it is being blocked internationally. Isn’t the endgame to grow the sport? I use the Sportsnet+ app to subscribe through  for the baseball season, then cancel in the offseason. As a tip, I only use Safari to login and watch games as the picture quality is better and is more reliable than the app itself. If  gains more games, then I will likely add their service for the stretch runs and the playoffs.

 

[Duke24]

This is good news, the games on Apple TV are of very high quality. Still, I think MLB is a very casually watched sport, so I think the free streaming services are the better play, or ones that are so ubiquitous most people have them (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) Putting the games on Apple and Peacock could alienate a lot of people.

True. The games look great but I sometimes forget there's even a game on Apple TV sometimes...unless it's my team. With ESPN, it never feels like that. Same with TNT when they had the NBA. It was not hard to know about the games. On Prime this season, I'll forget about the games (NBA) sometimes. Plus, I like channel surfing all in one place. Hard to "App Surf" every time there's a commercial.

 

[Darien Red Sox]

Want to kill sports? This is how you do it. So sick of streaming platforms getting exclusive rights to sports. Baseball is the worst. While the sport is dying (which breaks my heart, I love the game. Going to the Savannah Bannanas tonight!) they are doing nothing to increase viewership by making it more difficult to find and watch games between exlusive deals and blackouts.

Don't think they are killing sports viewership with the streaming platform deals, they are driving a lot of people to find illegal ways to watch games. Most people I know have found other ways to watch there team. What also harms viewership is how late the game are on at night which prevents the younger fan base from watching, I know plenty of kids who only get to stay up to watch game 7s. I personally will only watch my team if it is on a network I get, the amount of money MLB wants for streaming is too much and most of the season is when the weather is too good outside to be in front of a TV, you can watch your local Little League for free and be outside enjoying the weather.

 

[Darien Red Sox]

"Want to kill sports? Put it on cable." — sports fans in the 80s

Format transitions aren't new. This has all happened before.

If you want to kill sports, you keep it on cable. Nobody under 20 is watching linear TV anymore. Cable is dying and people are watching all of their entertainment via streaming, and not just on TV but mostly on their phones. Sports has to follow to streaming if it's going to survive the demise of cable too.

If you're too cheap to subscribe to a streaming service to watch the sports you like, then you were too cheap to subscribe to cable where sports have been on for the past 40 years.

I think sports is the only thing keeping linear TV alive. The only reason I still have satellite TV is because it is the cheapest way to get the sprots packages. I have done the math a number of times and every time it comes out cheaper to stay with satellite and not cut the cord.

Streaming in my experience (I live close to the edge of the market) will often pick up the wrong IP address location and block you out of the wrong games. It does not help that different streaming services use different IP address lookup locations.