Roku and Major League Baseball have made it official -- live games from a major American team sport will appear on a FAST channel for the first time, with the league's 18-game Sunday Leadoff package debuting on the Roku Channel on May 19.
A full schedule is below.
Peacock licensed Sunday Leadoff the past two seasons, with parent company NBCUniversal paying a reported $30 million last year to do so.
“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, in a statement. “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.”
Added MLB Deputy Commissioner of Business and Media Noah Garden: “With free games available to anyone, MLB games on Roku will be widely accessible to fans. 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 noted in this MLB FAQ, the Roku Channel is available well beyond the Roku device OS platform, with connected TV platforms including Amazon Fire TV and Google TV, as well as the open internet, providing access to the FAST.
