NBC and Major League Baseball officially announced their three-year media rights deal Tuesday, bringing baseball back to the network for the first time in over two decades with a comprehensive package that includes Sunday Night Baseball, the entire Wild Card round, and exclusive Opening Day and Labor Day primetime games.

The deal begins March 26, 2026, when the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers raise their banner against the Arizona Diamondbacks in what will be the lone primetime MLB game on Opening Day. NBC and Peacock will present 25 Sunday Night Baseball games per year under the agreement, which runs through 2028 and aligns with the expiration of MLB’s other national deals with Fox and TNT Sports.

“We are excited to reignite NBC Sports’ storied Major League Baseball history through this comprehensive and innovative partnership that will honor the past and create new traditions,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said in a statement. “With the Sunday Night Baseball package, NBC and Peacock are now the year-round platforms for premier Sunday night sports programming.”

The announcement confirms months of reporting detailing NBC’s pursuit of the package after ESPN opted out of its current deal earlier this year. The Wall Street Journal reported in August that NBC’s deal was approaching $200 million annually, a significant discount from the $550 million ESPN was paying before exiting its agreement.

Sunday Night Baseball on NBC now joins Sunday Night Football and Sunday Night Basketball to create year-round primetime sports programming on the same night each week, a broadcast network first. The NBA package runs from February through May, while Sunday Night Baseball generally airs from April through August, before NFL coverage begins in September.

NBC will also present the entire Wild Card round on NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock, with anywhere from eight to 12 games each season, depending on the format. ESPN previously held those rights as part of its package but gave them up when it opted out of its deal. Karl Ravech signed off from ESPN’s final Sunday Night Baseball broadcast in September, marking the end of the network’s 35-year run with the franchise.

The deal brings back MLB Sunday Leadoff, with 18 morning games scheduled throughout the season. Seventeen will be Peacock/NBCSN exclusives with one Peacock/NBC simulcast. The package debuted on Peacock for the 2022 and 2023 seasons before NBC let the deal expire, and Roku picked it up at $10 million annually, a third of what NBC originally paid. NBC reclaimed the package as part of the broader Sunday baseball strategy, and after each morning game wraps, Peacock transitions to a RedZone-style whip-around show, checking in on the day’s action around the league. The format creates a makeshift baseball doubleheader on most Sundays, giving NBC programming synergy between its broadcast network and streaming service.

On a special Sunday, July 5, 2026, “Roadblock” will feature all 15 MLB games that day, exclusively on Peacock and NBC, starting with MLB Sunday Leadoff on NBC/Peacock, continuing with every afternoon game on Peacock, and finishing with Sunday Night Baseball on NBC/Peacock.

The agreement creates two new traditions. NBC and Peacock will have the exclusive primetime window on the first full day of the season. MLB is also developing an exclusive Labor Day primetime game on NBC/Peacock for the first time, blocking out that time slot so no other teams play.

In 2027 and 2028, NBC will televise “Game 2,430,” baseball’s term for the highest-stakes contest on the final day of the regular season. Before that game, Peacock’s Sunday afternoon whip-around show will track all the playoff race implications as teams jockey for postseason position.

Peacock will also stream one out-of-market game daily throughout the season. In 2027 and ’28, NBC/Peacock will showcase one of MLB’s popular special event games, though the announcement didn’t specify which events. NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock will carry the MLB Draft on July 11, 2026, and NBC and Peacock will air the All-Star Futures Game on July 12, 2026. All regular-season and postseason Peacock-exclusive MLB games will also be available on the newly launched NBCSN sports cable network.

The three-year deal allows MLB to reorganize its entire suite of national media rights in 2028 when agreements with Fox and TNT Sports expire. ESPN, meanwhile, finalized its own deal to acquire MLB.tv, the league’s out-of-market streaming service, which will be housed within the new ESPN app but won’t be available to YouTube TV subscribers despite their recent carriage agreement with Disney.

NBC has not announced its broadcast team for Sunday Night Baseball or any other programming details beyond the game inventory. The network will have nearly four months to finalize those plans before the Dodgers and Diamondbacks open the 2026 season on March 26.