MLB Field of Dreams Game moves from Netflix to NBC next season

Players walk onto the field before a baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Philadelphia Phillies at the Field of Dreams movie site, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dyersville, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The MLB Field of Dreams Game is returning next season, and returning to broadcast television.

Major League Baseball said Friday that its Field of Dreams Game from Dyersville, Iowa, will return next season and be televised by the NBC broadcast network. The game will pit the Red Sox against the Royals and again take place on the second Thursday in August.

The announcement came one day after this year’s Field of Dreams Game, which aired exclusively on Netflix.

The first Field of Dreams Game in August 2021 paired the Yankees against the White Sox and aired on the FOX broadcast network. Its audience of nearly six million viewers remains the largest for any Major League Baseball regular season window since 2005.

Viewership fell by nearly half for the second Field of Dreams Game between the Cubs and Reds the following year, which also aired on FOX. But even that was still the second-largest audience of that season, behind only a Red Sox-Yankees game at the height of the Aaron Judge home run chase.

The audience for this year’s Field of Dreams Game will not be known until next week, but thus far, Netflix-exclusive MLB windows have come in slightly below their linear equivalents. The Netflix MLB Opening Night game in March averaged 2.97 million viewers, a figure that was surpassed by NBC’s primetime Opening Day game the following night (3.16M across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics).

The MLB Home Run Derby on Netflix in July was the least-watched since 2003, if down a modest 8% from the prior year on ESPN.

It is not clear which event Netflix will carry next season in place of Field of Dreams. The streamer has rights to Opening Night, the Derby, and another special event game.

As for NBC, Field of Dreams is just the latest addition to a sports lineup that has grown considerably in just the past 18 months. The event is late enough in the season that it would almost certainly be played even in the event of a lengthy lockout (though obviously not in the event of a canceled season). It remained on the schedule even in the COVID-shortened 2020 season that began in July, and was only called off after positive tests on the participating St. Louis Cardinals.

It should be noted that special event games like Field of Dreams were not included in the MLB rights package that ESPN opted out of, and NBC and Netflix subsequently acquired, last year. Prior to last year, those games generally belonged to Fox Sports.

NBA adds more broadcast TV games in second year of rights deal

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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Comments 27

ESL says:

3 months ago

While it’s a good move to get this game back on broadcast TV, I think the Field of Dreams nostalgia has run its course. I am curious to see what the viewership was for Thursday’s game. With the combination of game being on a streamer, a random matchup of Phillies and Twins, and the first full night of preseason NFL, I can’t see viewership being more than 2 million. Would be shocked if it is over 3 million. I think MLB should stop the Field of Dreams and expand. For “special event games”, MLB should do a game in places all over the country that dont have teams (similar to when they had the game in Birmingham, AL). Some ideas I think would work. Schedule games in Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Anchorage, Alaska. Also, bring it to a small towns in North Dakota and South Dakota and in Canada. Promote the sport in these places. I dont need to see another Field of Dreams game (and no more overseas international games). And, I agree, these games need to be on broadcast. Streaming does not work for baseball. The audience is older than other sports.
- Richard/Dohsan says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  So long as they can get people to show up, they might as well hold the game. I do agree that it makes sense for MLB to hold more “special” games in more remote locales that aren’t close to an MLB ballpark, though I’m pretty certain the MLBP union and players would have to sign off, and I doubt they’d be for 1-off games outside the Lower 48 (though international games do happen). AL and HI also just don’t have a ton of people for MLB to care about.
  - ds says:
    
    3 months ago
    
    MLBPA care greatly about salary cap. If MLB continue trying to impose a cap, especially a hard cap, MLBPA will go nuts and job action is likely. If MLB yield on a hard cap, they can almost certainly get agreement for occasional games in nontraditional locales. Anchorage for the summer solstice is pretty intriguing if so
    - JCiLee says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      The Midnight Sun game is actually in Fairbanks, not Anchorage. Fairbanks is much closer to the Arctic Circle.
      
      It’d still be tough to imagine it coming together, though. These special event games exist largely as products whose broadcasting and advertising rights can sell more than a random regular season game. NBC, FOX, Netflix, etc. would not be lining up to acquire the rights to a game that by definition takes from 2 am – 4 am on the east coast.
    - ds says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      @JCiLee, I assume any MLB Alaska game would be scheduled in a commercially viable manner. First pitch timed for the East Coast, played on a day near the solstice that fits with the rest of the competition and media calendar
      
      If I were in MLB marketing, I would try to pair this with package tours. Many affluent retirees have Alaska cruises on their bucket list. Perhaps a typical Seattle-Juneau round-trip on a premium boat, extended for an extra port day or two in Juneau. Shore excursion includes chartered Alaska Airlines flight to the ballgame city, game tickets, and post-game festivities and overnight at a nearby hotel. Add a few MLB dignitaries doing meet-and-greet at various touch points. Imagine the demand and price
    - JCiLee says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      @ds. MLB wouldn’t do just a random Alaska game. It would be for the Midnight Sun Game specifically, which is played annually in Fairbanks. During late hours-midnight Alaska time. Anything else completely defeats the point of going to Alaska.
- ds says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Some good ideas. Field of Dreams might be much more captivating if it were occasional rather than annual. And, baseball more than most sports is steeped in history. There are a lot of places an occasional game would (or could, with appropriate marketing) feel like an event
  
  I agree age is a consideration, though I think it is more traditionalism. Baseball fans seem almost allergic to change. The pitch clock was desperately needed for years and quickly became a big asset. There are many things MLB could do to continue expanding reach to newer fans; I suspect streaming will play an important role
- Jtk1 says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  I don’t really think it matters what network it is on, if you are a true fan, it shouldn’t matter, but I know NBC or any major network will get more viewers than streaming. To me, the two teams involved are both competing for wild card races. As for preseason football, I say who cares, I always watch pennant race baseball over preseason football any day.
- Matt Galvin says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Dyersville no pro team. Play a Game in Hawaii,Orlando,Jacksonville and so on.
  - Rick James Bible Owner says:
    
    3 months ago
    
    Play a Game in Hawaii This would’ve made for a real watchable game if one of these one-off MLB games were in Honolulu this weekend (I kid). Don’t forget how much of a disaster the Speedway Classic was at Bristol Motor Speedway last year (postponed by rain, no other game on a Saturday night in August until after 9PM Eastern, a half-empty stadium the day after). Imagine, let’s say….Cubs-Reds at IMS in Indy this weekend, plagued by rain and flooding in the surrounding vicinity from the past week’s constant rain. It was dry there today, but the festivities might’ve been altered (it would still have more fannies in the seats than this year’s Brickyard 400). These one-off games have to be unique with great vistas and be competitive to keep people beyond the first few innings (or period, for outdoor NHL games). Plus, as I’ve mentioned before, clubs have to want to give up a home game in late summer in exchange for a nationally televised spectacle that might turn intoma pumpkin real fast. The Rockies draw on weekends with fireworks and cheap beer even though they suck. The juice has to be worth the squeeze. Barely competitive games between teams with no history between each other is just corn sweat.
    - Rick James Bible Owner says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      *that should read ‘…in exchange for a nationally televised spectacle that might turn into a pumpkin real fast.’*
Richard W says:

3 months ago

I’m just thinking MLB wants a lot more exposure for the FOD game, hence why they’re placing it on NBC instead of Netflix (if there is going to even be a season next year), but they’ll possibly produce another special event type game from somewhere to make sure the league is within their rights agreement with the streamer. service It belongs on broadcast TV anyways as they’re assured of better numbers and ratings than last night’s game, whatever those numbers might entail.
JEAN H PIERRE says:

3 months ago

To me I think this says that NBC is really really committed to Major League Baseball from here on out. I would say Dr Lewis, that’s if the players and owners can come to a fair and reasonable understanding before 2027, it wouldn’t shock me NBC tries to get LCS and World Series when the next TV negotiations open up. Maybe a backup plan if they lose the NFL in 2030. What do you think of those scenarios?
- Jon Lewis says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Anything is possible, but any deal that would include LCS and WS would mean NBC more-than-doubling its current rights fee.
  - Seymour says:
    
    3 months ago
    
    Probably at least 5x what they’re paying currently. Hard to believe WS rights holder rights would’ve start at least at 1B/year, given FOX’s current payment of ~730M/year.
    
    NBC also has both Saturday night and Sunday night football. I think they’re really happy with their current package. It’s relatively cheap since it’s primarily the regular season and it helps fill in between basketball and football.
    
    If they were to pay up, I’d think it’d be to try and get whatever shape the MLB.tv package is for Peacock. Still feel that’s a very underrated play for streamers. Six months of consumers logging into your product everyday, should be worth a pretty penny.
    - ds says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      This is an insightful comment. Often forgotten in the praise for NBC is that NBC pay MLB a bit under half what ESPN used to pay. Also often forgotten is your point that NBC’s other sports take priority – many SNB windows are Peacock rather than NBC
      
      I do not interpret the evidence as a great commitment by NBC to MLB. I see it similar to you – NBC got a good price on content that fills holes in their OTA schedule
    - Roshan Raj Singh says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      There’s truth in both the takes. NBC clearly doesn’t treat MLB as a top priority right now, but they also see an opportunity in a property that’s generally available at a lower price than comparable marquee rights, thanks in part to MLB’s own mishandling of its media deals.
      And they’ve actually done a good job with Sunday Night Baseball. People don’t tend to give them credit for it, but they’ve genuinely raised the profile of those games. Over the last 7-8 years, a single regular season game topping 3 million viewers was considered a good year for MLB. NBC has done it at least 5 times this season alone. That’s a huge upgrade for the league, and yes, NBC is riding that gravy train.
      Do they want to maximize that value without spending more? Sure. But it’s also true they wouldn’t mind adding more postseason rounds to their portfolio at a reasonable rate, which Rick Cordella himself hinted at on the SMW podcast. That being said, I agree that taking on the World Series wouldn’t make sense for them in the current landscape.
      If anything, Yes MLB needs NBC more than the other way around.
    - Richard/Dohsan says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      I’m not sure that MLB mishandled anything given the hand they are playing with. Games that draw 1, 2, or even 3 million viewers just don’t move the needle for OTA broadcasters. They can get that many viewers just showing re-runs. So yes, MLB (and NBA and NHL) regular season games shouldn’t be worth a ton to OTA broadcasters. They’re arguably worth more to streamers and cable networks. But I’d say more if they carry a ton of a particular team’s games. The best majority of MLB/NBA/NHL games just aren’t must-watch TV.
    - ds says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      @Roshan, I always enjoy your well-reasoned, thoughtful contributions. Two areas of agreement here:
      
      1. NBCU consistently do right by their sports properties. Telemundo and NBC seem to take similar approaches – not the biggest portfolios, but everything that makes the OTA cutoff gets respectful, professional treatment
      
      2. NBC could get some MLB playoff rights (from Turner might be low-hanging fruit), and I think we agree price would need to be right for that to happen
      
      A big potential hurdle with MLB rights is that MLB may lack any desperately interested suitors (such as NBA enjoyed with ESPN to jump-start their recent negotiations)
    - Roshan Raj Singh says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      @Richard/Dohsan: When I say MLB mishandled their rights, I mean they were the ones who gave away Friday doubleheaders to Apple for $80M/year, and Peacock/Roku Sunday Morning Leadoff for just $30M/year initially, then dropped it to $10M/year, which is next to nothing. That severely hurt the value of their regular season games, which inadvertently led to ESPN opting out of its $550M/year deal because they figured they were actually paying much more than they should. This whole mess is actually what let NBC into the mix, as they swooped in and took over Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card Round (along with other games here and there) for just $200M!!
      I’d also counter your point about OTA networks averaging more than 3-4M viewers just with re-runs. Yes, they’ll most likely average more with some random procedural show than the majority of Sunday Night Basketball/Baseball games do. But NBC went after those rights because of the demo watching those games. MLB, for all its perception of skewing older (which isn’t false), still draws more than much much more in the key demos. For instance, last Sunday SNB had one of its lowest audiences of the season, with Astros at Padres doing only 2.01M (not counting Adobe numbers for Peacock), yet it still pulled a 0.35 in the 18-49 demo. Meanwhile, perennial hit 60 Minutes on CBS did 4.96M but only a 0.24 in 18-49. Which do you think is more valuable? Yes, 60 Minutes might be the bigger cash cow, but SNB brings in a newer audience, one that’s more likely to buy a Peacock subscription and worth more in ad revenue. So unless young folks return to broadcast TV, those bigger totals without sports programming generally mean very little.
      
      @ds: thanks for the compliment. And yes, you’re right, that’s why almost all baseball fans prefer NBC over ESPN and are generally very excited about their treatment of Sunday night games. Now if they could just fix their revolving-door analyst role and bring in someone like Rizzo or Votto, it would be golden.
      
      Now, coming to the possibility of NBC picking up more postseason rights. IMHO, if Fox is able to keep its monopoly over the World Series, there’s a good chance ESPN won’t be as interested in the rest of the LCS and Division Series rights. That would open the door for NBC, especially Turner without Paramount and Warner Bros behind it, wouldn’t be as strong a media house. And even with Paramount’s backing, I tend to think they wouldn’t be serious bidders, given Paramount’s own debt situation because of the merger. All of that adds up to a very reasonable entry point for NBC into MLB’s postseason. But if MLB decides to rotate the World Series rights then ESPN/ABC (and maybe even CBS then? along with Netflix et al.) would be much more aggressive, and I think we’d then see much less interest from NBCU. At least that’s my inference. Correct me if you or others think the reasoning is flawed.
    - Richard/Dohsan says:
      
      3 months ago
      
      Roshan:
      Again, those are all pretty small potatoes. Hence why MLB regular season games just aren’t worth that much.
      
      I suppose your demographics argument is a reason for why NBC paid so much for the NBA (with its generally more youthful/better demographics) though that still is likely an overpay (again with caveat that Peacock/inflation may make that deal a win for NBC in the end).
- ESL says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  I think MLB is going to be very disappointed that they are not going to get media rights fees anywhere close to the NBA. MLB has the biggest challenge that the NBA doesn’t have to deal with. The most important games (I.e all the postseason) is up against the NFL. This puts MLB at a big disadvantage. MLB postseason has to go up against the NFL many times in October. This is why MLB can’t get the rights fees they will want.
Ryan Strnad says:

3 months ago

Id like to hear Bob Costas narrate the start of THAT one. Probably similar to how he narrated the start of game 2 of the 1988 World Series. That was emulating Kirk Gibson for Roy Hobbs in The Natural. There, I heard they produced that all night in nearby Hollywood, the tape had to be police escorted to Dodger Stadium, and Costas had to narrate it live.
- Roshan Raj Singh says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Thanks for the tip, I looked it up on YouTube right after reading this. I wasn’t ready for it. Something about Costas’ voice, the pacing, the way it builds, it just gets under your skin. I actually got chills, the good kind, the kind that catch you off guard.
  
  There’s a weight to it that most sports intros rarely touch. It doesn’t feel like hype, it feels like reverence, like you’re being told a story that mattered. By the end I had that lump-in-the-throat thing going. Funny how a couple of minutes can do that.
  
  NBC should definitely try that.
Rick James Bible Owner says:

3 months ago

The newness, nostalgia, excitement, and….poor pitching of the first Field of Dreams Game with the Yankees-White Sox made it seem like this would always be a back-and-forth game full of runs every time. The organizers made an inspired choice with the Twins as host (who aren’t the dog meat they were last year), and hope the Royals are much better when (if) this game is played next year. We’ll see. They’d kill for a Braves-Brewers type matchup. Last year, I suggested Dodgers-Tigers for the FoD Game (glad they didn’t do that). Someone not in the AL Central has to be more willing to give up a valuable August home game for this to be better.
- ds says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Novelty and nostalgia are so important. I do not watch much regular season baseball, but I am 99% sure I watched that first Field of Dreams game you reference. IIRC, great back and forth ended with a White Sox walk-off homer crushed into the corn. But, while I really enjoyed the event, it will never be novel to me again (maybe nostalgic every few years). Same issue with hockey in outdoor stadiums – feels a bit tired, bordering on desperate, when it is too frequent
Roshan Singh says:

3 months ago

It was a bad game and also on Netflix, don’t see much chance for it to go above 2022 numbers.
Will see if NBC can market it better.

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