NBC Sports released its complete 2026 MLB schedule on Friday, detailing the network’s return to baseball after a 26-year absence with a package that runs through 2028.
The schedule starts March 26 with an Opening Day doubleheader. Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates visit Juan Soto and the New York Mets at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers raising their World Series banner before hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks at 8 p.m. The Dodgers’ game is the only primetime MLB broadcast on Opening Day.
NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball package launches March 29 with the Seattle Mariners hosting the Cleveland Guardians. The network will air 25 Sunday Night Baseball games per season on NBC and Peacock, including Yankees-Red Sox on June 28, Dodgers-Yankees on July 19, and a Labor Day primetime Cardinals-Giants game.
MLB Sunday Leadoff returns with 18 games, most on Peacock and NBCSN. NBC originally created the Sunday morning package for Peacock in 2022, but dropped it after 2023. Roku picked it up for $10 million annually — a third of what NBC originally paid — before NBC reclaimed it as part of the broader deal.
On July 5, all 15 MLB games will air nationally on NBC and Peacock as part of “Star-Spangled Sunday,” starting with Sunday Leadoff and ending with Padres-Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball.
NBC/Peacock Sunday MLB Sked pic.twitter.com/YXchqsT2wj
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 9, 2026
NBC and MLB reached a three-year deal worth approximately $200 million annually — far less than the $550 million ESPN had been paying before opting out of its Sunday Night Baseball package in February 2025. Combined with Netflix’s roughly $50 million deal for Opening Night and the Home Run Derby, MLB is getting about $250 million for what was essentially ESPN’s old package, plus some additional inventory.
As for who will be calling all that inventory, Fox’s Jason Benetti remains the frontrunner to serve as NBC’s lead play-by-play voice, while Orioles TV voice Kevin Brown has also emerged as a candidate. NBC is also targeting Clayton Kershaw to appear on the studio team for select events, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.
Now that the games are set, it’s only a matter of time before the announcers are too.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.