With the Launch of Major League Baseball, NBC Turns Sunday Nights into a Year-Round Home for Premium Sports on Broadcast

NBCUniversal has been bringing sports to American audiences since the very beginning of television. Nearly a century ago, NBC aired the first televised sporting event in the United States—starting a tradition of sharing big, can’t-miss moments with viewers at home, free over the air. 

Sunday Night Baseball returns to broadcast television on NBC

The return of Major League Baseball to NBC brings Sunday Night Baseball back to broadcast television for the first time in more than two decades. The debut marks the beginning of a new three-year partnership between NBCUniversal and Major League Baseball and it comes on the heels of the debut season of Sunday Night Basketball, the first of an 11-year agreement between NBCU and the NBA. 

NBCUniversal is the industry leader in primetime sports broadcast hours, having nearly doubled its offerings over the past eight years. In 2026, NBC will deliver 1,025 hours of sports programming free over the air, more than any other network.  

This lineup includes premium sports programming on 51 of 52 Sunday nights, anchored by Sunday Night Football, Sunday Night Basketball, and Sunday Night Baseball. 

NBC’s Sunday Night Football ranks first in primetime

Sunday Night Football remains the cornerstone of this lineup and has ranked as primetime television’s number one show for 14 consecutive years, with a 15th in progress. With the addition of the NBA and MLB to the NFL, NBC’s Sunday night franchise has expanded into a year-round lineup of premium sports programming. 

NBA on NBC drives viewership milestones

NBA games returned to NBC on a weekly basis for the first time in 24 years, with the power of broadcast TV powering numerous viewership milestones for the league. The premiere of the new Sunday Night Basketball series opener drew the highest ratings for a regular-season Sunday night NBA game since 2002, when the NBA was last on NBC.  

For the first time in 25 years, NBC affiliates will carry live MLB games, and, for the first time ever, the MLB Draft and All-Star Futures Game will air on broadcast television on NBC. This partnership has delivered immediate impact, with NBC posting the largest MLB Opening Day audience on record for a multi game presentation by a single network. The Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers matchup was the most watched MLB Opening Day primetime game since 2017 and delivered the largest Thursday MLB audience on record in the first half of the season.  

From football to basketball to baseball, Sunday nights are once again a destination for the biggest moments in sports on broadcast television, continuing a long-standing tradition of bringing can’t-miss events into homes across America.