ATLANTA—After a busy week of adding regional sports networks covering Major League Baseball, Fubo TV and The Atlanta Braves announced a multiyear distribution agreement to provide BravesVision to its customers. BravesVision will be available on Fubo’s sports-first live TV streaming platform starting on the Braves’ Opening Day, Friday, March 27.

The deal follows a number of recent deals to expand its lineup of regional sports networks covering Major League Baseball. In addition to the Braves’ agreement, Fubo has added Spectrum SportsNet LA (LA Dodgers), 14 MLB-operated team channels, BravesVision and SNY (NY Mets) RSNs to its lineup.

Braves games will be available to subscribers of the FuboTV base plan throughout the six-state Braves Country territory, which is inclusive of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and western North Carolina.

Announced last month, BravesVision will produce more than 140 games, as well as extensive pre-game and post-game programming, throughout the 2026 regular season. The new BravesVision pre-game show, “Braves On Deck,” and post-game show, “Braves Postgame,” will offer news, analysis, and a look at the unparalleled gameday experience at Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta. To celebrate Opening Day, “Braves On Deck” will begin at 6 p.m. ET ahead of Friday’s opener against the Kansas City Royals.

Yesterday on March 26, Fubo announced that Fubo will stream SportsNet LA’s coverage of every available Los Angeles Dodgers game, including pre- and postgame shows and exclusive content, a first for the vMVPD.

At launch, SportsNet LA will be available to subscribers of the FuboTV base plan in the SportsNet LA footprint.

NEW YORK—Fox Sports said its coverage of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the decisive Game 7 of the 2025 World Series delivered 27,330,000 viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming platforms. That ranked it as the most-watched World Series game since 2017’s Game 7, which pulled in 29,069,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data.

On Fox, the 11-inning Fall Classic conclusion delivered an average audience of 26,882,000 viewers and peaked at 33,064,000 from 11:45 p.m. to midnight ET. Fox said the number is up 16% over the most recent World Series Game 7 in 2019 and ranks as Fox’s most-watched Saturday primetime telecast since Jan. 18.

TV Tech's coverage of the new technologies that Fox Sports used to produce the games is available here.

Through seven games on Fox, the 121st World Series delivered an average of 15,709,000 viewers—the best complete average for a World Series since 2017 (18,926,000 viewers) and up 2% over last year’s average for five games (15,336,000 viewers), Fox said.

In addition, the complete 2025 MLB postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8,088,000 viewers, up 8% over last year’s average (7,520,000) and Fox Sports’ best postseason since 2017.

On Fox, Game 7 drew a 22.2/62 rating in Los Angeles, peaking at 26.5/66 from 12:15-12:30 a.m. ET.

Top local markets for the entire World Series included:

• Los Angeles 17.6/53
• San Diego 10.9/40
• Seattle 9.6/37
• St. Louis 9.2/26
• Milwaukee 9.2/27
• Las Vegas 9.1/32
• Portland, Ore. 9.1/34
• Buffalo, N.Y. 8.9/24
• Sacramento, Calif. 8.9/31
• Minneapolis 8.7/27

Fox Sports’ digital platforms and streaming services recorded record levels throughout the 2025 World Series. Game 7 was the most-viewed World Series game in Fox Sports history, with a total average minute audience (AMA) of 752,731. Fox Sports delivered 1.3 billion views for the World Series across @MLBonFox social media channels, up 96% from 2024 (664 million).

In addition, Fox Deportes’ coverage of Game 7 averaged 448,000 viewers—the most-watched Game 7 on Spanish-language television since 2019 (613,000 viewers for Nationals-Astros).

Separately, Major League Baseball said Game 7 of the 2025 World Series averaged 51.0 million viewers combined across the U.S., Canada, and Japan, making the 11-inning contest the most-watched MLB game in 34 years, going back to Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

With the Major League Baseball season still in its first month, CNBC has issued its first ever list of the most valuable MLB franchises, with the New York Yankees topping the list at $8 billion, followed by the L.A. Dodgers who are valued at $5.6 billion.

The valuations were calculated by sports valuation expert and CNBC’s senior sports reporter Michael Ozanian. After adjusting for revenue sharing, he noted in an article that “the Yankees posted an MLB-high $705 million in revenue during the 2024 season.”

The Dodgers, who are the reigning World Series champions, generated $701 in revenue, according to CNBC’s calculations. The Yankees and the Dodgers were the only two teams to rack up more than $600 million in revenue according to CNBC.

Ozanian also reported that the Yankees, valued as the MLB’s most valuable team at $8 billion, were the third most valuable sports franchise in the U.S., trailing the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys (worth $11 billion) and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors ($9.4 billion). The NFL’s L.A. Rams were also valued at $8 billion.

While the MLB teams had eye-watering valuations, Ozanian also reported that the “MLB has been facing revenue headwinds from the decline of the regional sports network model and concerns about national TV rights, particularly since February, when ESPN announced it would opt out of its agreement with MLB after this season. A lack of a salary cap in the league has also hurt the bottom line. The NBA, NFL and NHL, all of which have salary caps, boast margins for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of about 20%. In contrast, MLB, which does not have a salary cap, has an EBITDA margin of 5%, according to CNBC’s calculations.”

The full rankings along with details of each team can be found here.

The full CNBC clip of Ozanian discussing the rankings can be viewed here.

NEW YORK—Fox Sports is reporting large audience numbers for the 2024 World Series and its coverage of the postseason, as 18.6 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming platforms watched Game 5 of the World Series, making it the most-watched Game 5 of the fall classic since 2017.

It was also the most-streamed World Series in the network’s history, Fox reported.

On Fox, the conclusion to the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Yankees matchup delivered an average audience of 18,152,000 viewers and peaked at 21,268,000 from 11:15-11:30 p.m. (ET), delivering the most-watched Game 5 of the World Series since 2017 (Dodgers vs. Houston Astros, with 18,959,000 viewers).

The Dodgers’ second World Series clinch in four years was up 58% over last year’s World Series Game 5 (Texas Rangers-Arizona Diamondbacks, which tallied 11,483,000 viewers).

Across all networks, the 120th World Series dominated the television landscape with an average of 15,808,000 viewers, the best combined figure for the Fall Classic since 2017, Fox said.

Through five games on Fox alone, the World Series averaged 15,204,000 viewers, up 67% over last year’s five-game average (9,108,000), delivering the best five-game average of the World Series since 2017 (16,416,000).

In addition, the complete 2024 MLB postseason on Fox and FS1 averaged 7,485,000 viewers, up 42% from last year’s average (5,265,000) and Fox Sports’ best baseball postseason through Game 5 of the World Series since 2017.

Game 5 was also the most-streamed World Series game in Fox Sports history, with a total average minute audience (AMA) of 487,386.

Overall, the five-game series was the most-streamed fall classic in network history with a total AMA of 368,808. That figure is up 123% over last year and up 59% from the previous all-time high in 2022.

On Fox, Game 5 drew a 21.1/55 rating in Los Angeles and a 14.8/39 in New York.

Top available markets for the entire World Series include:

• Los Angeles (18.9/53)
• San Diego (12.4/41)
• New York (12.2/33)
• Hartford, Conn. (11.1/30)
• Las Vegas (9.3/28)
• Kansas City (8.7/25)
• Phoenix (8.2/25)
• St. Louis (8.2/24)
• West Palm Beach, Fla. (8.2/21)
• Portland, Ore. (8.0/30)

Fox Deportes’ coverage of Game 5 averaged 447,000 viewers, making it the network’s most-watched MLB game this season as well as the most-watched World Series Game 5 since 2018 (Boston Red Sox-Los Angeles Dodgers, with 577,000 viewers). Game 5 was up 174% over last year (166,000) and peaked at 540,000 from 11:45 p.m. to midnight (ET), the company reported.

The 2024 World Series averaged 504,000 viewers on Fox Deportes, doubling last year’s average (181,000) and making it the most-watched in Spanish-language television history.

The complete 2024 MLB Postseason on Fox Deportes averaged 281,000 viewers, the highest-performing postseason ever for the network.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—Spectrum Networks has announced a new, multi-year distribution agreement with DirecTV for regional sports networks Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA.

At a time when pay TV operators have been looking for ways to cut costs and have been dropping regional sports networks, this new agreement offers a significantly lower penetration threshold, giving DirecTV the ability to provide more affordable and flexible options to customers not interested in premium sports programming while still serving those who want live NBA Los Angeles Lakers and MLB Los Angeles Dodgers games.

“While viewing habits continue to shift, it’s clear that regular season professional sports programming remains extremely popular with a core base of traditional cable, satellite, and OTT customers,” said Dan Finnerty, senior vice president and general manager, Spectrum Networks. “That said, given these customers represent a relatively small percentage of the overall video subscriber base, and recognizing the marked increase in direct-to-consumer choices, the model for RSNs needs to evolve to reflect the realities of the current marketplace. With this agreement, we are taking a step to shift the business model so that customers have more control.”

As usual, financial terms of the distribution agreement were not revealed. 

Under the new deal, DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-verse customers throughout Southern and Central California, portions of Nevada including Las Vegas, as well as Hawaii will continue to enjoy live coverage of future Dodgers and Lakers games, pregame and postgame analysis, as well as exclusive studio and original programming such as “Backstage: Dodgers” and “Backstage: Lakers.” 

“DirecTV continues to believe in the power of local sports, while also recognizing the demands of the many homes we serve with other diverse programming interests,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer of DirecTV. “This agreement with Spectrum Networks achieves three key objectives – putting consumers first, recognizing local value, and enabling both parties to extend their relationship with long-term, mutual benefits.”

BURBANK, CA.–Bexel, an NEP Broadcast Services Company, provided a host of equipment and engineering support for the five games of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, at Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium.

Bexel was again called upon for the eighth consecutive year to support the Post Season for MLB Network, starting with the Wild-Card and Division Series with 10 Panasonic AJ-PX270 handheld AVC-ULTRA HD camcorders to cover its press kit needs. Eight AJA KUMO 32x32 HD-SDI routers were chosen for signal distribution to ensure the highest signal quality and powerful signal control.

For the Championship Series, Bexel supplied MLB Network with an IPTV system with monitors, which were used throughout the production compound to deliver program feeds, with additional monitors positioned in operational trailers.

As the 2018 World Series were planned at both Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium, Bexel equipment and engineering support were ready to be on-site at both locations for MLB Network for the duration of the game series. With equipment coming from both Bexel offices in Burbank and Dallas, the company supplied the entire signal distribution hardware to deliver the vast number of signals between outside broadcast trucks used for MLB Network, MLB International, and Japan’s national public broadcasting organization NHK. Of the OB trucks, NEP Mobile Units were on-site with EN2, SuperB, and NCP14.

As part of the signal distribution hardware system, Bexel implemented a large router and DA infrastructure for both Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium. Two Bexel engineers were dedicated on-site, and traveled between Boston and Los Angeles to manage the signal distribution hardware for the World Series.

Due to a small compound at Fenway Park, Bexel outfitted MLB Network productions with ‘glass cows’ to help move fiber across the city’s street. Each glass cow is a 72-breakout fiber patch panel, moving TAC-12 single-mode fiber cables extended out to audio, video and camera feeds.

To round out the bases, Bexel also supplied ancillary gear to MLB International with a number of Litepanels Astra 1x1 LED panels, Sound Devices 688 12-input field production audio mixers, and MultiDyne VF-9000 video fiber optic transport frames.

LOS ANGELES—The baseball season is in its final stretch, and while there is much excitement for this year’s postseason, the end of the regular season will also mean the end to the legendary career of broadcaster Vin Scully. The voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the past 67 years announced that the 2016 season would be his last, and this weekend will mark the final time he will call a game from Dodgers Stadium.

Vin Scully (Photo credit: officialvinscully.com)

Scully, 88, has had a national presence throughout his career and because of this multiple reports indicate that the MLB Network plans to share his final game from Chavez Ravine with the entire country. MLB Network will simulcast the Dodgers/Colorado Rockies game on Sunday, Sept. 25, at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. This simulcast will not be available in Los Angeles or Colorado per blackout restrictions, but the game will be available through its normal broadcast means.

Scully’s final broadcast will be as the Dodgers wrap up their season against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco on Oct. 2. Though the Dodgers are expected to make the playoffs, Scully will not be participating in postseason coverage.