Roku lands MLB Sunday Leadoff rights
May 14, 2024
Roku has acquired the exclusive multi-year rights for Major League Baseball (MLB) Sunday Leadoff live games in the US. From May 19th, Roku will offer Sunday MLB games for free on The Roku Channel, plus an all-new MLB Zone to help baseball fans discover live and upcoming games, nightly recaps, highlights, a fully programmed MLB FAST channel, and more across the Roku platform. On most Sundays throughout the season, Roku will be the home for the first games of the day, with an exclusivity window during airtime as well.
“As television programming, live sports, and the leagues have fragmented across networks, apps, and multiple packages, Roku – home to all of them – plays an increasingly crucial role for viewers and advertisers,” commented Charlie Collier, President, Roku Media. “With this deal, Roku delivers free, live, weekly Sunday baseball and 24/7 baseball curation, destinations, and channels across our platform. The lead-in to all of television is now the lead-off for Sunday baseball as well. It’s a terrific partnership.”
The first game on May 19th will see the St. Louis Cardinals hosting the Boston Red Sox. Other featured games include the Baltimore Orioles with young stars Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson going head-to-head against the New York Yankees with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto on July 14th; and the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks with reigning National League Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll will face the Los Angeles Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman on September 1st.
The game telecasts will be produced in collaboration with MLB. Broadcast teams each week will be market-focused, with Chip Caray (play-by-play), Will Middlebrooks (analyst), and Alexa Datt (reporter) calling this Sunday’s game.
“With free games available to anyone, MLB games on Roku will be widely accessible to fans,” added Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media. “Since Roku serves as an entertainment gateway for millions, this partnership offers a valuable new promotional and distribution platform for MLB games and content.”