Roku has sealed a multi-year deal for rights to Major League Baseball, setting a slate of 18 games to stream live and for free every Sunday.
Billed as Sunday Leadoff, the early-window games appeared last season on Peacock. The shift to Roku marks a milestone in the ongoing migration of sports to streaming, with Roku being the first non-subscription outlet to carry live games from a major sport.
Already, MLB has shown a considerable appetite for streaming, setting a season-long deals with Amazon and Apple TV+. Amazon is also a stakeholder in the YES network, whose lead partner is the New York Yankees.
The first Roku telecast will be this Sunday, May 19, on The Roku Channel. Under the deal, the companies will also create MLB Zone, which will help viewers in Roku’s nearly 82 million households find MLB content, including games.
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