NBC to air standalone primetime MLB game second night of season

MLB’s new set of short-term national media rights deals aren’t yet official, but details continue to leak out about how they will look.

The latest such detail comes from Puck’s John Ourand, who reported on Thursday evening that NBC, which is set to takeover the Sunday Night Baseball package currently held by ESPN, will make its MLB debut on Thursday, March 26, the second day of the regular season. Per Ourand, NBC will receive a standalone primetime game that day, with 28 of the league’s 30 clubs set to kick off their seasons on the date.

The league and network have not yet decided which game will fill the primetime slot, though Ourand suggests that the Pittsburgh Pirates-New York Mets or Detroit Tigers-San Diego Padres games are intriguing possibilities. The other 13 games happening that day will presumably take place before the primetime window.

Last month, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported that Netflix will air an Opening Day game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, March 25. The Opening Day game was originally apart of NBC’s package, but was bumped over to Netflix as a result of “horse trading during rights negotiations.” As a result, MLB is creating another marquee window on the second night of the season, which will serve as NBC’s season debut. Netflix is also reportedly buying rights to the Home Run Derby, which is also currently part of ESPN’s package.

Ourand reports MLB’s new media rights deals will be officially announced “in the next couple of weeks.”