Roku will start showing Major League Baseball's Sunday Leadoff live games for free after it secured exclusive streaming rights to the baseball league.
The deal, which was previously under NBCUniversal's Peacock+, is expected to provide Roku an "increasingly crucial role for viewers and advertisers," Roku Media said in a press release.
Starting May 19, US viewers can watch MLB games first on the ad-supported Roku Channel. This will be in addition to the MLB Zone for baseball fans to see recaps of previous games and highlights.
MLB.TV subscribers will also receive the exclusive streaming experience of watching all 18 matches anytime.
Roku will also be streaming the Sunday Leadoff matches live in Canada and Mexico for free via Amazon Fire, Samsung, and Google TVs.
Streaming Giants Race to Secure Exclusive Rights on Gaming Leagues
Roku is not the only streaming service trying to secure exclusive streaming rights to major gaming leagues as the streaming experience becomes more fragmented.
In exchange for its MLB streaming deal, Peacock recorded 10 million viewers in its first exclusive National Football League broadcast last December.
At its peak, Peacock and Paramount recorded 23 million average viewers during the much-awaited match between the Kansa City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers during last February's Super Bowl LVIII.
Disney is also reportedly expanding its streaming partnership with the National Basketball Association via ESPN+.
This is in addition to Amazon securing streaming rights to several MLB, NBA, and National Hockey League games through its partnership with Diamond Sports.
Roku Expands Streaming Deals to Live Events
The MLB deal follows earlier exclusive content deals Roku has secured as the company moves to cater more live-streaming events like the Miss Universe and Formula E.
Sporting and competition events often generate millions of viewers, perfect for Roku's ad-supported streaming business model.
It is uncertain if the streaming service is looking to secure a similar deal with the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
