MLB Inks Multi-Year Rights Agreements With UK’s BT Sport, BBC

Major League Baseball has reached new multi-year rights agreements with United Kingdom broadcasters. BT Sport extends its current agreement to show regular season and postseason games including the pay-TV rights to broadcast Mitel & MLB Present London Series in the UK, while the BBC has acquired the rights to stream the London Series across all its digital platforms.

BT Sport extends their agreement with MLB through 2021 as part of their long-term relationship with ESPN. Their rights currently consists of up to 12 live MLB regular season games per week and all jewel events including the All-Star Game, World Series, and now the London Series games.

ESPN will also produce a weekly MLB show titled, Caps Off, created specifically for the UK and Ireland to be shown on BT Sport’s social media and TV channels. The show will leverage ESPN’s talent, infrastructure, and storytelling expertise around MLB.

Simon Green, head of BT Sport says “BT Sport will continue as the home of MLB in the UK. We are especially looking forward to the MLB coming to the London Stadium this summer and the opportunity to put our own presentation around these games for viewers in the UK.”

The deal with BBC to broadcast the Mitel & MLB Present London Series in the UK in both ’19 and ’20 on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport Website is the first ever between MLB and BBC. The BBC’s reach across the UK is unmatched with millions of people turning to the network to watch major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The BBC Sport website is the most visited for sports in the UK, with over 20 million browsers visiting each week.

Victoria Cotton, BBC Sport Live Streaming Executive Editor, says: “We’re very excited to bring the MLB London Series to free-to-air audiences across the country for the first-ever time this summer. Our digital platforms are proud to provide coverage of world-class sporting entertainment and MLB will bring a new level of interest to our channels.”

“Reaching agreements with two of the UK’s premier broadcasters is an important milestone as the anticipation and excitement for the Mitel & MLB Present London Series continues to grow,” says Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. “We’re looking forward to working with both BBC and BT Sport to bring the best possible presentation of our sport to viewers in the UK.”