Major League Baseball (MLB) today announced renewed broadcast agreements with 16 rightsholders from around the world including Dentsu (Japan), MBC Sports+ (Korea) and Televisa (Mexico). MLB has also reached new deals ahead of the 2016 season with Telemicro in the Dominican Republic and Ole Communications in Venezuela to carry MLB programming and games. Further, extensions were achieved to continue relationships with Bell TV (Canada), beIN Sport (France), BT Sport (United Kingdom), DIRECTV (South America and Caribbean), iN Demand (select Caribbean countries), Fox Sports Asia (select Asian countries), FM Center (Venezuela), FTV (Taiwan), Megacable (Mexico), Radio Marti (Cuba), Sport5 (Israel), Teletica (Costa Rica), UTS (Curacao) and Win Sports (Colombia). These deals, along with the existing international broadcast partnerships, will lead to MLB transmitting more than 14,000 games worldwide during the 2016 Championship Season.
In addition, MLB Network is now available to subscribers of Cable Onda in Panama and TDS in Curacao. MLB Network is currently distributed in approximately 68 million homes throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
MLB has agreements with 115 television and radio partners to broadcast Championship Season games, the 2016 MLB All-Star Game and the 2016 Postseason including the World Series in 14 languages to fans in 170 countries and territories around the world.
"Our developing partnerships with Dentsu, MBC, Televisa, Telemicro, Ole Communications, and others will bring live Major League Baseball games and original baseball programming to more fans around the world," said Chris Park, Senior Vice President, Growth, Strategy & International, Major League Baseball. "They play a vital role in connecting us to diverse international audiences, showcasing the excitement of our game through a distinctively local lens."
The renewal with Dentsu, a partner since the 1990 Championship Season and the longest-running MLB international media partner, will run through the 2020 season. Television networks that will air MLB games in Japan per rights granted through sub-licensing agreements with Dentsu include NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc.), Fuji TV (Fuji Television Network, Inc.), J SPORTS (J SPORTS Corporation) TV Asahi (TV Asahi Corporation), TV TOKYO (TV TOKYO Corporation). All six networks have previously telecast MLB games in Japan.
MBC Sports+ will be the exclusive partner of Major League Baseball in South Korea across all media. The new agreement includes the broadcast of approximately 1,000 Championship Season games, the MLB All-Star Game and the entire MLB Postseason, including the World Series. For the first time, MBC Sports+ will also have rights to MLB games and content across all of their digital platforms. They will be able to brand and stream live games in both English and Korean via a MBC Sports+ branded player. MBC Sports+ will run the MLB Korean-language website where they will conduct All-Star voting online in South Korea in addition to providing fans with MLB content, highlights, MLB-focused games, statistics and player information. MBC Sports+ has been the exclusive broadcast partner of MLB in Korea since 2012.
Televisa, long-time MLB broadcast partner in Mexico, will bring baseball to fans across the country with an extended broadcast agreement through 2018. The centerpiece of this new relationship is a national MLB Game of the Week, which will be broadcast over-the-air each Saturday afternoon of the Championship Season. Televisa will also broadcast games on Monday nights, at least one game on either Tuesday or Thursday night on their all-sports channel Televisa Deportes Network (TDN), and the MLB All-Star Game and Postseason including the World Series. Televisa was the exclusive Mexican broadcast partner for the 2016 Mexico City Series, a two-game Spring Training series between the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros.
Telemicro, a market leader in the Dominican Republic, will bring MLB games and special programming to the D.R.'s passionate fan base beginning in 2016. The new partner will broadcast up to 13 games per week across its two over-the-air networks during the Championship Season as well as the All-Star Game, Postseason and World Series. In Venezuela, the deal with Ole Communications will include the rights to sublicense Championship Season, Postseason and Jewel Events such as the All-Star Game and World Series to both Over-The-Air and Pay TV networks.
These deals join Le Sport (LeTV), China's top internet-based eco-sports company, which became an official strategic partner of MLB in China mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, for a three-year period that began in January. LeTV holds rights to broadcast 125 MLB games per season, including the All-Star Game and all World Series Games, along with Mandarin-language MLB programming. LeTV will establish an online community for 30 MLB Clubs and continue its role as co-producer of MLB Perfect Pitch, a baseball reality show, and have continued involvement with MLB development programs & initiatives.