In a sports broadcasting first, Facebook has acquired an exclusive, season-long package of MLB games. In other news, IndyCar’s CEO says the series is close to a new TV deal, ESPN Plus is acquiring content, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his NBC NASCAR debut on Monday.
Facebook Gets Exclusive Package of MLB Games
The website Facebook has acquired an exclusive package of 25 regular season Major League Baseball games, it was announced Friday, marking the first time a digital outlet has acquired an exclusive Big Four rights package. Yahoo! and Verizon have previously acquired exclusive rights to individual NFL games, but those productions aired on local TV in the participating markets. The Facebook MLB games will not be available through any other outlet.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook is expected to pay between $30 and $35 million for the games, which will be produced by MLB Network and take place on weekday afternoons. The first game is Phillies-Mets on April 4.
Facebook has previously carried MLB games, but those broadcasts were simuclasts of RSN coverage. [Bloomberg 3.9, MLB 3.9]
IndyCar Close to New Deal, Says CEO
IndyCar is “close” to reaching a new television deal that would put at least half of the races on broadcast television, CEO
Mark Miles told the
Indianapolis Star in an interview published Friday. The remaining races would air on cable and on an over-the-top package. Under such an arrangement, races would air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN Plus, or NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold.
Sunday marked the beginning of IndyCar’s final season under a ten-year deal reached in 2009. Miles has been consistent in his desire to consolidate rights with one partner and put more races on broadcast television. [IndyStar 3.9]
ESPN Plus Gets Fire, Sun Belt
The soon-to-launch over-the-top service ESPN Plus will serve as the exclusive local rights partner of the Chicago Fire Major League Soccer team, it was announced Friday. ESPN Plus already has rights to all out-of-market MLS games through MLS Live. Fire games will be available for free through MLS Live until ESPN Plus launches later in the spring.
In related news, ESPN earlier this month announced a media rights extension with the Sun Belt conference in which the overwhelming majority of events will air on ESPN Plus. The OTT outlet will begin airing on ESPN Plus later this year. When the deal goes fully into effect in 2020, ESPN will carry more than 500 Sun Belt events per season, with just 15 guaranteed to air on ESPN’s linear TV networks. [ESPN PR 3.1, 3.9]
Dale Jr. Making NBC NASCAR Debut Monday
New NBC NASCAR analyst
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his debut on NBCSN’s
NASCAR America on Monday, his first NASCAR assignment for the company, Earnhardt Jr. spent his first month with NBC covering the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. Once NBC begins airing NASCAR races later in the summer, Earnhardt will serve as a race analyst. [NBC Sports PR
3.8]
