Anthony Rieber: MLB games on streaming services leave fans in a lurch
A general view of the field is seen before the Yankees play the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium on Mar. 27, 2025. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Stobe
On Feb. 25, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it is seeking public comments on sports teams and leagues shifting live games from broadcast channels to streaming services.
For most sports fans, we think we know what the comments will be. Something along the lines of “@#$%^&)*$%^&!.”
Yankees fans will feel the impact when the team opens the 2026 MLB season at San Francisco on March 25. The game – the only one on that day -- will be on Netflix.
Not YES Network. No Michael Kay and co.
On Netflix. With announcers who have yet to be named by the streamer.
The Mets’ season opener against Pittsburgh on March 26 will at least be on over-the-air television on NBC. It will also be streaming on Peacock.
No SNY. No GKR.
On NBC and Peacock. With announcers who have yet to be named by the network.
So while the FCC may be seeking comments on the issue, it remains to be seen what the government can do about it.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr is a big baseball fan who last year threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Yankees game and was interviewed in the YES booth.
“For decades, Americans enjoyed turning on their TV & quickly finding the game they wanted to see,” Carr said in a Feb. 25 statement. “Yet watching your favorite team play isn’t as easy these day. Many games are still on broadcast, but an increasing number are on a range of different online platforms.”
That’s the issue, right? But every sport in America is moving some of its games – sorry, the streamers call it “inventory” – onto different platforms. It’s hard to imagine any government intervention that can slow this lucrative train since it has already left the station.
Netflix is paying MLB an estimated $50 million for a three-year deal that includes the stand-alone season opener, the All-Star Game Home Run Derby, and a special event game (this year’s is the “Field of Dreams” game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13, when the Twins play the Phillies.)
NBC’s three-year, $200-million deal includes “Sunday Night Baseball” (no longer on ESPN), Sunday leadoff games, all four wild-card playoff series, and a pair of games on the March 26 “traditional” Opening Day, when most teams will play.
Mets-Pirates from Citi Field is the first game NBC will show as part of a regular package since 2000.
The Yankees will have 21 games exclusively on Prime Video. WPIX will carry 25 Mets games on over-the-air TV.
There will also be games shown on ESPN, Fox, ABC, FS1, TBS, Apple TV+, MLB.TV, MLB Network and Food Network.
Just kidding on the last one. There are currently no MLB games scheduled for Food Network. But would it shock you?
“I think you really hit on something that is becoming more and more potentially problematic for fans,” Howie Rose, the Mets’ radio play-by-play announcer, told Newsday. “These streaming services -- they're not giveaways, you know? It's a challenge. Because if you are just used to cable, you're paying whatever you're paying for cable, you’ve got to pay all this money on top of that for every one of these streaming services if you want to be able to watch all the games. It's a great business model for the various leagues, I guess, but, boy, it can create a headache for fans trying to figure out do I want to subscribe to another one?”
It’s enough to make a fan’s head – and wallet -- spin. And it’s not going away because there’s too much gold at the end of the live sports rainbow.
“Welcome to the new world order, I guess,” Robert Boland, a sports law professor at Seton Hall who also concentrates on gaming, hospitality and entertainment, told Newsday. “Or at least the new world media distribution packages. I think the fact that Opening Day in New York is a prime target for the new platforms that Major League Baseball is hoping to use and leverage -- both Peacock and Netflix -- is probably indicative of this. I think you're seeing kind of prime level events with large audiences and a large fan base being used on these new featured platforms to draw attention to the platforms.”
So what is a fan to do besides signing up for multiple services and hoping for the best?
Sure, complain to the FCC (the comment period is March 27-April 13).
Or simply skip the games you don’t have access to and do something else. That should be the sports league’s biggest fear, shouldn’t it?
Or, especially for baseball, there’s still a single spot you can get all 162 games.
Radio. WFAN for the Yankees and WCBS for the Mets.
And it’s still free.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
