Major League Baseball (MLB) has revealed that its one-year renewal with Facebook will see the social media giant stream just six live, non-exclusive regular season games in 2019.
The agreement marks a significant drop on last year’s tie-up, which gave Facebook the rights to stream 25 games exclusively on its Watch platform in the US.
This season’s rights deal, which equates to one game per month, will see the fixtures air globally on Facebook Watch, excluding local markets subject to blackout and select international markets.
The MLB Network will produce dedicated Watch broadcasts for each game, including interactive and social elements that will invite fans to participate in the live coverage. Facebook added that MLB will have the opportunity to sell sponsorships for each of the live broadcasts.
Facebook Watch’s live MLB schedule has not yet been decided, though the social media platform will once again offer highlights of every game as well as weekly recaps for each team.
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“We look forward to testing a new model for live games, which should help the league continue to reach a younger and more global audience,” said Rob Shaw, Facebook’s sports partnerships lead for leagues and media.
Facebook first teamed up with MLB for the 2017 campaign to show 20 non-exclusive games. The partnership was then renewed ahead of last season in a deal worth a reported US$30 million and US$35 million.
MLB and Facebook hailed last year’s partnership as a success after drawing 123 million views across the 25 games broadcast on Watch during the 2018 season. The two parties also said games streamed on the platform reached an average viewership almost 20 years younger than the league’s typical TV audience.
Commenting on the new deal, Chris Tully, MLB’s executive vice president of global media, added: “Collaborating with Facebook will again drive the creation of new ways for us to deliver content to baseball fans that engage on the platform daily.
“Facebook provides a community-focused environment that will allow for fans to connect with their favourite teams via custom on-demand content and live game action driven by an original MLB Network social-first broadcast production.”
Major League Baseball (MLB) has revealed that its one-year renewal with Facebook will see the social media giant stream just six live, non-exclusive regular season games in 2019.
The agreement marks a significant drop on last year’s tie-up, which gave Facebook the rights to stream 25 games exclusively on its Watch platform in the US.
This season’s rights deal, which equates to one game per month, will see the fixtures air globally on Facebook Watch, excluding local markets subject to blackout and select international markets.
The MLB Network will produce dedicated Watch broadcasts for each game, including interactive and social elements that will invite fans to participate in the live coverage. Facebook added that MLB will have the opportunity to sell sponsorships for each of the live broadcasts.
Facebook Watch’s live MLB schedule has not yet been decided, though the social media platform will once again offer highlights of every game as well as weekly recaps for each team.
“We look forward to testing a new model for live games, which should help the league continue to reach a younger and more global audience,” said Rob Shaw, Facebook’s sports partnerships lead for leagues and media.
Facebook first teamed up with MLB ahead of the 2017 campaign to show 20 non-exclusive games. The partnership was then renewed ahead of last season in a deal worth a reported US$30 million and US$35 million.
MLB and Facebook hailed last year’s partnership as a success after drawing 123 million views across the 25 games broadcast on Watch during the 2018 season. The two parties also said games streamed on the platform reached an average viewership almost 20 years younger than the league’s typical TV audience.
Commenting on the new deal, Chris Tully, MLB’s executive vice president of global media, added: “Collaborating with Facebook will again drive the creation of new ways for us to deliver content to baseball fans that engage on the platform daily.
“Facebook provides a community-focused environment that will allow for fans to connect with their favourite teams via custom on-demand content and live game action driven by an original MLB Network social-first broadcast production.”
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