MLB has today revealed fresh media rights deals with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Netflix, affirming that Apple will still provide streaming for “Friday Night Baseball.” Here are the specifics.
### Apple Retains ‘Friday Night Baseball’, But That’s All
Earlier this year, there were indications that Apple might terminate its collaboration with Major League Baseball (MLB), including discontinuing its “Friday Night Baseball” series. Speculation arose that Friday night games could transition to NBC/Peacock, while Netflix would broaden its partnership to air Home Run Derby events.
Nevertheless, MLB confirmed that “Friday Night Baseball” will stay on Apple TV, declaring, “Apple TV will continue broadcasting ‘Friday Night Baseball’ doubleheaders during the regular season.”
The announcement was made alongside a press release outlining new three-year media rights agreements with Netflix, NBCUniversal, and ESPN for the 2026-2028 MLB seasons. This represents ESPN’s 39th consecutive season with MLB, whereas NBC returns to broadcasting games for the first time in 25 years. Netflix will extend its involvement with MLB, moving from documentaries to covering live baseball events.
Key highlights from the new agreements include:
– **Sunday Night Baseball** will transition from ESPN to NBCUniversal, which will also acquire rights to Sunday Leadoff and the Wild Card Series.
– **Netflix** will broadcast the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, an exclusive Opening Night, and select event games, including the 2026 MLB at Field of Dreams Game and the World Baseball Classic in Japan.
– **ESPN** will gain a national midweek game package and obtain rights to sell MLB.TV, which recorded 19.4 billion minutes viewed in 2025.
This announcement signifies that a considerable expansion of Apple’s baseball streaming rights is not on the horizon, contrasting earlier claims that touted Apple as a strong candidate for new MLB media contracts.
In spite of this, Apple is making progress in the sports streaming arena, having recently acquired US streaming rights for Formula 1 and updating its agreement with Major League Soccer (MLS) to offer games free to Apple TV subscribers.
Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue, has articulated a vision for the future of sports streaming that encompasses “more bundling.” However, for Apple TV subscribers who are baseball enthusiasts, MLB content will not be included in that future for now.
Apple TV is priced at $12.99 per month and includes popular shows and films.
