MLB has decided to revive the Sunday Leadoff Broadcast for the rest of this season. It was on Peacock for two seasons after NBC abruptly canceled their deal a year before it expired. The idea of having an early Sunday baseball game exclusively through a paywall streaming service was not well received by the fans.
Now MLB has brought it back but with a big difference. These games will be available for FREE to everyone in the USA through Roku. All you need is an internet connection. No local blackouts like before as well. The 2024 slate of games starts with the Boston Red Sox visiting the St. Louis Cardinals this Sunday, May 19 at 1:05 PM Eastern. That will be a great way to start your Sunday as a baseball fan.
Sounds like it should be a grand slam for all parties involved, right?
MLB: Trying to Get a Younger Audience
The reality is baseball is worried. Younger fans are not watching the games like before and the MLB wants to change that. They hope that putting more games through the internet will tap into the under-30 crowd they are missing now. Sure, kids still are playing baseball in high numbers but are they watching baseball games on television?
Some say that with the rise of people with no internet, those who are more tech-inclined will be willing to sit through a three or four hour baseball game in front of their television. The majority of the fans who are tuning on television day-to-day are in the 50-70 age group crowd.
With MLB Sunday Leadoff going on Roku, baseball hopes that maybe some younger fans can tune in more easily. You can tune in on your phone, laptop, web browser, or your Roku device. You don’t even need an account to watch the game. A replay will also be available six hours after the last pitch.
MLB: Streaming Is the Future
Streaming services are slowly taking over sports broadcasting. As cable companies and linear regional sports networks struggle, streaming only does better year to year. MLB was determined to get exclusive streaming games back on the air. The league has been exploring streaming for quite some time now going back to the 2017 season when Facebook streamed games exclusively.
Later it was Twitter, then YouTube. All those games were for free to everyone, no account needed, similar to this deal with Roku. MLB also started streaming Friday Night games on Apple TV, but those are through a paywall, only available to Apple TV Plus subscribers.
MLB has had free games on the internet before and they wanted to bring that back. It will confuse some fans as they will be tuning to their local regional sports network to watch their favorite team and it won’t be on. These Sunday games are exclusively through Roku, and no local broadcasts are done for either team featured on MLB Sunday Leadoff.
About the Author
Mike Nelson lives and breathes sports. Ever since he was very young he has also dreamed of covering sports. Mike graduated from CSULA in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. He has been very lucky to cover sports and be on the radio for the last few years with different organizations including a stint with the LA Galaxy where he was one of the announcers for the LA Galaxy 2 team for two seasons.
Mike loves music, he hosts his radio show/podcast “The Mike Nelson Show” where he has gotten to interview the biggest names in rock and metal including Les Claypool, David Ellefson, and others.
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