Anthony Rieber: MLB games on streaming services leave fans in the 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 that day — will be on Netflix.
Not YES Network. No Michael Kay & Co.
On Netflix. With Matt Vasgersian and former Yankee CC Sabathia on the call.
The Mets’ season opener against Pittsburgh on March 26 at least will be on over-the-air television on NBC. It also will be streaming on Peacock.
No SNY. No GKR.
On NBC and Peacock. With Vasgersian (yes, the same guy) and a yet-to-be-named analyst.
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 and 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 . . . 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 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, which already has left the station.
Netflix is paying MLB an estimated $50 million for a three-year deal that includes the stand-alone season opener, the Home Run Derby and a special event game (this year’s is the “Field of Dreams” game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13).
NBC’s three-year, $200 million deal includes “Sunday Night Baseball” (no longer on ESPN), Sunday leadoff games, all four Wild Card Series and a pair of games on the March 26 “traditional” Opening Day.
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.
The May 15 Subway Series opener from Citi Field will be an Apple TV exclusive.
There also will be games shown on ESPN, Fox, ABC, FS1, TBS, MLB.TV, MLB Network and Food Network.
Just kidding on the last one. But would it shock you?
“I think you really hit on something that is becoming more and more potentially problematic for fans,” Mets radio play-by-play announcer Howie Rose 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 sign up for multiple services)? 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 leagues’ biggest fear, shouldn’t it?
Of course, there’s still a single spot you can get all 162 games.
Radio. WFAN 660 for the Yankees. ESPN New York 880 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.
