Manfred, Comcast CEO Hit Links as MLB-Peacock Deal Remains in Limbo
With just 12 days to go before Opening Day, Major League Baseball and Peacock have yet to come to an agreement on a new streaming deal. But if a recent ultra-exclusive golf event is any indication, the big guns on both sides recently had a chance to discuss a renewal over 18 holes.
Grouped in a March 4 foursome at the fabled Seminole Pro-Member event in Juno Beach, Fla., were Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. While no deal has been reached to re-up Peacock’s two-year streaming deal, which expired at the end of last season, the foursome’s 8:01 a.m. ET tee time gave Roberts and Manfred ample opportunity to compare notes.
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Playing alongside the cable chief and baseball’s boss were PGA Tour pros Adam Long, who was paired off with Manfred, and Ryan Palmer, who was matched with Roberts. The foursome competed in a field that featured the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Tom Brady, who of late has been cramming for his fall debut as Fox’s lead NFL color commentator.
While neither MLB nor NBC Sports would comment on a possible Peacock renewal, the original $60 million arrangement marked baseball’s second foray into the wilds of a national streaming offering. (Apple inked a seven-year, $595 million pact with the league a few weeks before the legacy Peacock deal was announced.)
The 18-game 2022 MLB-Peacock deal was finalized the day before the season got underway, with the first game to stream on the service (White Sox at Red Sox) arriving May 8. In its second year, the Sunday morning package served up 19 exclusive games to Peacock subscribers, culminating in a Phillies-Brewers showdown on Sept. 3, 2023.
Both years of the Peacock deal included a one-off NBC broadcast designed to heighten awareness of the streaming package. In Year One, Peacock’s Sox-Sox opener averaged 1.3 million viewers on NBC, while last season’s Orioles-Braves outing served up 1.6 million fans on May 7. That turnout was in keeping with the average in-game deliveries across Fox and ESPN’s national windows, which together averaged 1.62 million viewers over the course of the season.
Since then, Peacock has demonstrated that it can reach TV-grade audiences with other top-tier sports. The platform’s exclusive coverage of January’s Dolphins-Chiefs NFL Wild Card Game scared up some 23 million viewers.
In addition to Comcast’s oversight of Peacock, the cable giant also owns five RSNs, of which four currently control the in-market TV rights for their MLB partners (Phillies, A’s, White Sox, Giants). The company also holds a minority stake in the Mets’ SportsNet New York (SNY).
The Roberts-Palmer pairing (71) finished one stroke up on Manfred-Long (72). Brady shot a 69, and Woods a 67.
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