''MLB Sunday Leadoff'' is an American presentation of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) games produced by
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
for the
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
-owned
streaming service
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
.
Peacock's coverage will include 18 Sunday regular season games during the
2022 MLB season, which will all have an 11:30 a.m. or 12:00 p.m.
ET start time. It is NBC Sports' first
national MLB package since 2000.
History
In March 2022, it was reported by ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' that NBC Sports was finalizing an agreement to establish a new package of
Sunday afternoon games beginning in the
2022 MLB season. The package would be a successor to
TBS's previous Sunday afternoon package during the later half of the season; as part of a contract renewal, TBS replaced these games with a new
Tuesday night package across the entire regular season.
As a prelude to the deal, Peacock had exclusively aired a June 2021 series between the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
and
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
. It was co-produced by
NBC Sports Bay Area
NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquart ...
and
NBC Sports Philadelphia
NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns a controlling 75% interest), and the Philadelp ...
, and featured a broadcast team led by the
Giants' lead play-by-play announcer
Jon Miller
Jon Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997 he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball annou ...
and his partner
Mike Krukow
Michael Edward Krukow (born January 21, 1952), nicknamed "Kruk", is an American former professional baseball player and sportscaster. As a starting pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and ...
, joined by the
Phillies' analysts
John Kruk
John Martin Kruk (born February 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. Kruk played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox from through . Du ...
and
Jimmy Rollins
James Calvin Rollins (born November 27, 1978), nicknamed "J-Roll", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Los Angeles Dodgers (), and Chicago White S ...
.
NBC formally announced the deal on April 6, with a reported value of $30 million per-season.
As part of the agreement, Peacock will also carry the
All-Star Futures Game
The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...
, as well as an MLB content hub featuring classic games and other video content.
On April 13, 2022, NBC Sports announced that the games would be branded as ''MLB Sunday Leadoff''.
The inaugural broadcast was a game featuring the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
at the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
on May 8.
The game was also
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
on the NBC broadcast network, marking its first MLB broadcast since Game 6 of the
2000 American League Championship Series on October 17, 2000, and its first regular season MLB broadcast since September 29, 1995.
All other games will be exclusive to Peacock Premium subscribers.
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, where Peacock is not available, games featuring the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
are telecast by
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...
using its regular broadcast team. For all other games in Canada and in all other international markets, MLB Sunday Leadoff games are available live and on demand on the MLB.TV subscription service.
Production
The broadcasts were described as aiming for a "hyper-local telecast with a national flair". The games' on-air presentation builds upon that of NBC Sports'
regional MLB coverage. Former
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
broadcaster Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...
(who served as NBC's lead play-by-play commentator for its MLB coverage from 1983 to 1989) narrated a special introduction for the first broadcast, emphasizing NBC's history as an MLB broadcaster (including its
historic ''Game of the Week'' broadcasts).
Personnel
Jason Benetti
Jason Benetti (born September 9, 1983) is an American sportscaster. Since 2016, he has been the primary television play-by-play announcer of Chicago White Sox baseball. He is also the alternate play-by-play announcer of Chicago Bulls basketball f ...
(who
calls Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
games for
NBC Sports Chicago
NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...
, and also worked
NBC's telecasts of
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
during the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
) served as the lead by-play announcer for the first season, joined by rotating analysts from each participating team.
Ahmed Fareed
Ahmed Fareed is an American studio host and sports reporter for American television network NBC Sports.
Early life
Fareed is a native of Sparta, Michigan, where he played quarterback for the Sparta High School (Michigan), Spartans. After graduati ...
would serve as the studio host.
Benetti joined
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
in August 2022; NBC has not yet named a replacement play-by-play announcer for future seasons.
Schedule
The
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
schedule has 23 of the 30 teams within MLB appearing at least once. Not appearing are the
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...
,
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
,
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
,
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
,
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
,
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...
, and
Texas Rangers.
The games have an exclusive midday window, with the first games carrying an 11:30 a.m.
ET scheduling, and later games having an 12:00 p.m. ET scheduling; on days scheduled for games on Peacock, no other MLB games will begin until at least 1:30 p.m. ET.
In an August 2022 press release, the NBC Sports Group indicated a "full season" of ''MLB Sunday Leadoff'' in 2023, presumably meaning the schedule will feature more than the 18 weeks in 2022 and begin in April.
Source:
Notes
: Jon Miller filled in for primary play-by-play voice
Jason Benetti
Jason Benetti (born September 9, 1983) is an American sportscaster. Since 2016, he has been the primary television play-by-play announcer of Chicago White Sox baseball. He is also the alternate play-by-play announcer of Chicago Bulls basketball f ...
, who instead called the
Crosstown Classic between the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
and
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
on
NBC Sports Chicago
NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...
.
: While there wasn’t a regular commentary team,
Ahmed Fareed
Ahmed Fareed is an American studio host and sports reporter for American television network NBC Sports.
Early life
Fareed is a native of Sparta, Michigan, where he played quarterback for the Sparta High School (Michigan), Spartans. After graduati ...
,
Craig Monroe
Craig Keystone Monroe (nicknamed "C. Mo") (born February 27, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and current sportscaster. He played for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pira ...
, and
Britney Eurton did select commentary, mostly interviews, during the broadcast.
See also
*''
Friday Night Baseball
''Friday Night Baseball'' is a live broadcast of Major League Baseball (MLB) games on Apple TV+ that debuted during the league's 2022 season. The weekly broadcast is produced by MLB Network, featuring a doubleheader with pregame and postgame an ...
''
*''
MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube
''MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube'' is the presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games live on the video sharing and social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of informatio ...
''
References
External links
*
{{NBC Sports
Sunday Leadoff
American sports television series
Sports telecast series
Major League Baseball on NBC
Peacock (streaming service) original programming
2022 American television series debuts
2020s American television series