NEWSLETTER
Fans can now watch MLB games via Roku. Do with that what you will.
The “MLB Sunday Leadoff” games will begin this weekend. The first game, featuring the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, starts at 12:05 p.m. CT, although some other first pitches will be even earlier, at 10:35 a.m. CT.
Roku Will Be the New Home of MLB’s ‘Sunday Leadoff’ Games
Major League Baseball will produce the game telecasts in collaboration with Roku. Play-by-play announcer Chip Caray, analyst Will Middlebrooks, and reporter Alexa Datt will call the first game. Roku’s service is free and available to an estimated 120 million users, but hardcore fans may still have difficulty finding their teams’ games. (You don’t have to have a Roku device to watch, you just need the Roku app.)
MLB.TV subscribers can watch all 18 games without any blackouts worldwide, so that’s covered if you were concerned.
Initially, NBC’s streamer, Peacock, had the package the platform created with baseball, however, Roku now has the exclusive rights to the games in a multiyear agreement.
The cost of the agreement between MLB and Roku is unknown. Roku will also provide a new “MLB Zone,” a feature designed to help fans find their teams’ games daily, and a fully programmed MLB FAST channel that is free and ad-supported. Roku’s concept is more exclusive than Apple TV+’s current plan to show “Friday Night Baseball.”
Although, like Apple, Roku will be the only platform where fans can watch the game, unlike Apple, Roku games will be the only games on for an hour and a half or two hours. No other Sunday matchups can have a first pitch before 12:35 p.m. CT. Last season, the Peacock package started on April 23. The Roku games will begin almost a month later, on May 19 this year.
The Cubs will be part of the new Roku offering when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16 at 12:05 p.m. CT.
Here’s a look at the full schedule:
