Roku has secured the exclusive multi-year rights for Major League Baseball “Sunday Leadoff” live games.
Starting May 19, the OTT aggregation player will offer Sunday MLB games for free on The Roku Channel.
It will also launch a 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.
Paying subscribers of MLB.TV can watch all 18 matchups blackout free from anywhere in the world.
“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,” said Charlie Collier, President of 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.”
MLB Sunday Leadoff will stream every Sunday on The Roku Channel and TheRokuChannel.com from May 19 to Sept. 15.
The matchups start on May 19 with the St. Louis Cardinals hosting the Boston Red Sox.
“With free games available to anyone, MLB games on Roku will be widely accessible to fans,” said 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.”
As the one-stop destination for fans to browse, discover, and stream everything MLB, the all-new MLB Zone will include a more robust MLB FAST channel, with premium sports content around the clock including up-to-date highlights, MLB Game of the Week replays, Minor League Baseball game replays, and other baseball content.
Viewers can also find the Sunday games in the MLB Zone by heading to Sports on the Roku Home Screen menu or using Roku Search.
