MLB and Roku have reached a deal for Roku to take over streaming of Sunday games previously hosted by subscription service Peacock.
MLB announced the agreement on Monday, and it will take effect immediately. The first of 18 Sunday games scheduled for Roku this season will take place this upcoming Sunday (May 19) when the Boston Red Sox visit the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:05 p.m. ET. Roku will continue to stream Sunday day games throughout the season until Sept. 15.
For fans weary of games scattered across multiple paid subscription platforms, this is good news. Roku is a free service. Peacock is not. Fans not familiar with Roku will be tasked with figuring out how to access the service on their smart TVs and other devices. Roku is available as an app on multiple platforms. The games will also be available via MLB.TV subscriptions with no blackouts.
The slate will feature multiple matchups of playoff hopefuls including Twins-Astros (June 2), Diamondbacks-Phillies (June 23), Padres-Diamondbacks (July 7), Yankees-Orioles (July 14), Brewers-Twins (July 21), Dodgers-Diamondbacks (Sept. 1) and Rays-Orioles (Sept. 8).
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports that Roku began talks with MLB about the package after Peacock’s parent company NBC balked at the $30 million annual price tag it had previously paid over the course of its two-year deal with MLB. Per the report, NBC preferred a rights fee of roughly $10 million annually.
The new deal with Roku is a multi-year agreement, per the report. How much Roku is paying for the rights has not been reported.
