The news: NBCUniversal has made a bid to acquire the rights to regular-season and postseason Major League Baseball (MLB) games after ESPN’s decision to opt out of the remaining three years of its MLB contract, per The Wall Street Journal.

• If successful, the partnership will see NBC air Sunday night MLB games, taking over ESPN’s slot. Games will also be available on NBCU’s streaming service, Peacock.
• NBCU is reportedly offering far less than the $550 million a year ESPN was paying for MLB rights, though it’s unclear whether the offer is higher than ESPN’s renegotiated amount of $200 million annually.
• Individuals speaking to WSJ stated that NBCU is offering less because it isn’t asking for rights to radio, international broadcasts, or highlight clips that ESPN had access to.

Zooming out: The deal would expand upon NBCU’s current sports package, which includes the rights to NFL games and Sunday NBA games starting later this year, along with the Olympics, soccer, NASCAR, and college football and basketball.

NBCU’s move is part of the ongoing trend of companies investing in sports as a critical opportunity to reach engaged audiences: Amazon Prime Video has an 11-year deal with the NBA and 11-year extension with the WNBA, and streams Thursday Night Football. Meanwhile, Netflix is investing in boxing matches, marquee NFL games, and the WWE.