YouTube has acquired a package of exclusive MLB games. Also: ESPN the Magazine is ending its print edition; Yahoo! will begin streaming NFL games through its fantasy app; Houston-Oklahoma is heading to the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
YouTube acquires MLB package
Google-owned YouTube has acquired exclusive rights to stream 13 Major League Baseball games this season, the company announced Tuesday. Under the deal, the games will be available through MLB’s official YouTube channel and through YouTube TV. MLB Network will produce the games and the pre-and-postgame shows.
According to Tuesday’s announcement, “some of the highly-popular YouTube creators” will have an as-yet-unknown presence on the broadcasts.
In a similar deal last year, Facebook carried 25 exclusive MLB games. [YouTube]
ESPN the Magazine ending print edition
ESPN is discontinuing the print edition of ESPN the Magazine effective September, Sports Business Daily reported Tuesday. The magazine launched in 1998 and originally published every-other-week. It is currently down to twelve issues per year. According to Sports Business Daily, ESPN could still publish special issues throughout the year. [SBD 4.30]
Yahoo! to stream NFL games through fantasy app
Yahoo! Sports announced this week that it will begin streaming live NFL games through its mobile fantasy football app. Yahoo! currently streams games through its primary sports app, and will continue to do so. The slate of in-market and primetime games will be available for free and without authentication. [Awful Announcing 5.1]
Houston-OU gets Sunday of Labor Day weekend slot
This season’s Houston-Oklahoma college football game has been moved back a day to Sunday, September 1 and will air in primetime on ABC, ESPN announced last week. This is the fourth straight year that ABC has carried a college football game on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. [ESPN PR 4.25]
