MLB has long boasted a full slate of games on Sunday, and now the league is apparently trying to increase that presence with an earlier start time on the final day of the week.
NBC's Peacock streaming platform will produce and broadcast several games with a first pitch slated for 11:30 a.m. ET, a full 90 minutes ahead of the traditional 1 p.m. ET start time for the first batch of games.
The morning matchups will launch on May 8, featuring the White Sox and Red Sox in Boston, and run for six weeks before a 12-week run of noon ET start times beginning in mid-June and running through early September, the network announced.
The noon start time will begin on June 19 with a Phillies-Nationals contest in Washington, D.C. The series will wrap up on Sept. 4 -- perhaps conveniently timed for the start of NFL season -- with a Blue Jays-Pirates contest in Pittsburgh.
The deal is exclusive to Peacock, meaning it will not be available on other subscription packages, and it was expected to run for multiple years.
“We are excited to announce this multi-year partnership with Major League Baseball, which will exclusively offer Peacock subscribers a premium property in a unique time slot for the sport, while continuing NBC Sports’ rich baseball history,” said NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua.
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