Roku Lands Exclusive Rights to Major League Baseball Sunday Leadoff
Roku has secured exclusive multi-year rights for Major League Baseball Sunday Leadoff live games, offering Sunday MLB games for free on The Roku Channel, with an all-new MLB Zone. The partnership includes MLB FAST channel, nightly recaps, and highlights.
- Roku secures exclusive multi-year rights for Major League Baseball Sunday Leadoff live games, enhancing content offering on The Roku Channel
- Introduction of MLB Zone with a more robust MLB FAST channel, providing a one-stop destination for baseball fans
- MLB Sunday Leadoff games will be widely accessible to fans through Roku platform, no subscription required
- Valuable partnership serving as a promotional and distribution platform for MLB games and content
- Potential lack of revenue generation from offering MLB Sunday games for free, impacting Roku's financial performance
Insights
Roku's decision to secure exclusive rights for Major League Baseball (MLB) Sunday Leadoff games signifies a strategic move to enhance its content offering and attract a larger audience. This aligns with the broader trend of streaming platforms investing in live sports to differentiate themselves from competitors. Live sports are a key driver of engagement and subscriber retention, making this partnership potentially lucrative for Roku in the long run.
The introduction of the MLB Zone and the MLB FAST channel on the Roku platform enriches the user experience by providing fans with easy access to a variety of baseball content. This not only increases user engagement but also opens up new advertising revenue opportunities. Given Roku's wide reach of 120 million people in the U.S., advertisers will likely find this an attractive proposition.
Importantly, providing the games for free on The Roku Channel taps into a broader audience base that may not be willing to pay for premium sports packages. This could significantly boost user acquisition and engagement metrics, which are critical for Roku's growth trajectory.
From a financial perspective, Roku's multi-year exclusive rights to MLB Sunday Leadoff games could have a substantial impact on its revenue streams. By offering free games, Roku could drive higher ad revenue due to increased viewership and engagement. More viewers mean more eyeballs for ads, which translates into higher ad rates and revenue.
Furthermore, this partnership may attract new advertisers looking to target MLB's dedicated fan base. For Roku, which generates a significant portion of its revenue from advertising, this deal could be a boon. The company reported strong
However, it's worth noting that the costs associated with such exclusive rights could be substantial. Investors should keep an eye on Roku's expenditure in this domain and balance it against the expected ad revenue gains to gauge net profitability.
This move by Roku to secure exclusive MLB rights is a savvy play in the realm of sports marketing. Live sports are one of the last strongholds of traditional television and by bringing MLB games to a streaming-first platform, Roku is positioning itself as a leader in the evolving media landscape. This is particularly significant given the fragmentation of sports broadcasting across various networks and apps.
The strategic timing of the games, being the first of the day on most Sundays, ensures that Roku captures an engaged audience looking to start their baseball Sundays. Additionally, the collaboration with MLB to produce market-focused broadcasts can enhance viewer experience by providing relevant and compelling commentary.
This partnership brings inherent value to both Roku and MLB. For Roku, it enhances platform stickiness and user engagement, which are critical for sustained growth. For MLB, it provides a modern, accessible way to reach a diverse and potentially younger audience, expanding its fan base. This symbiotic relationship is likely to yield positive outcomes for both parties.
Roku now offers Sunday MLB games for free and new MLB Zone including an MLB FAST channel, for all things baseball
Roku has secured the exclusive multi-year rights for Major League Baseball (MLB) Sunday Leadoff live games. (Graphic: Business Wire)
There are numerous ways to access MLB Sunday Leadoff games on Roku for free. Details are available below and here. Additionally, 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, 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. 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 14; and the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks with reigning National League Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll will face the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman on Sept. 1. The game telecasts will be produced in collaboration with Major League Baseball. 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. The full MLB Sunday Leadoff on Roku schedule is included with this press release.
“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.
The Roku Channel is widely available to stream for free, no subscription or sign-up required. Viewers can watch it on Roku devices or TVs, TheRokuChannel.com, and through the Roku app on iOS and Android devices, Amazon Fire TVs, Samsung TVs and Google TVs and other Android TV OS devices. The Roku Channel reaches
To learn more, please head to Roku.com. Image assets here.
About Roku, Inc.
Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Roku TV™ models, Roku streaming players, and TV- related audio devices are available in various countries around the world through direct retail sales and/or licensing arrangements with TV OEM brands. Roku-branded TVs and Roku Smart Home products are sold exclusively in
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us on the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to those related to the availability, features, functionality, and attributes of the Roku TV program, our commitment to providing best-in-class TV streaming, and the features and benefits of the Roku platform. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are detailed from time to time in the reports Roku, Inc. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on Roku’s website and are available from Roku without charge.
Roku and Roku TV are trademarks or registered trademarks of Roku, Inc. in the
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240513281524/en/
Roku
Brigitte Gilbert
bgilbert@roku.com
Major League Baseball
Matt Bourne
matt.bourne@mlb.com
mlbpressbox.com, @MLB_PR
Source: Roku
FAQ
When will Roku start offering Sunday MLB games for free?
How can paying MLB.TV subscribers access MLB Sunday Leadoff games on Roku?
What additional content will be available in the all-new MLB Zone on Roku?
Where can viewers find the Sunday games in the MLB Zone on Roku?
How can viewers access The Roku Channel to watch MLB games for free?
