| Sunday Afternoon Baseball | |
|---|---|
 The logo forMLB Sunday leadoff on Roku since 2024 | |
| Also known as | MLB Sunday Leadoff |
| Genre | Sport |
| Developed by | CBS Sports NBC Sports ABC Sports TBS Major League Baseball |
| Directed by | Chet Forte Craig Janoff |
| Starring | Al Michaels[1] Jim Palmer Tim McCarver[2] Keith Jackson Howard Cosell[3] Don Drysdale[4] Jim Lampley Bob Uecker Johnny Bench |
| Theme music composer | Lillian Scheinert Robert Israel[5] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Roone Arledge |
| Producers | Dennis Lewin Curt Gowdy Jr. |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes (or until game ends) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS NBC ABC TBS The Roku Channel |
| Release | October 10, 1977 (1977-10-10)[6] – present |
| Related | |
| Major League Baseball on CBS Major League Baseball on NBC Major League Baseball Game of the Week Major League Baseball on TBS | |
Sunday Afternoon Baseball is the de facto branding used for nationally televised live game telecasts ofMajor League Baseball games onSunday afternoons during the regular season.
The first Sunday afternoon broadcasts of Major League Baseball occurred in1958 when CBS added a SundayGame of the Week.[7][8][9] Two years later,NBC launched their own Sunday telecasts to go with their Saturday afternoonGame of the Week broadcasts.[10][11]
In1962, CBS dropped the Sunday baseballGame of the Week[12] once the NFL season started, dropping the option clause for affiliates to carry baseball or football in place since1957. NBC's Sunday afternoon telecasts would last through the end of the1964 season.
In1979, the start of ABC'sMonday Night Baseball coverage was moved back to June, due to poor ratings during the Maysweeps period. In place of April and May prime time games, ABC began airingSunday Afternoon Baseball games in September.[13] ABC also had a clause where they could air a game the last day of the regular season if it had playoff implications, such as in1987 in regards to theDetroit Tigers'American League East pennant chase against theToronto Blue Jays. The team of Michaels, Palmer, and McCarver called that game inDetroit that day, in which the Tigers clinched theAmerican League East crown. However, in1986, ABC did do a number of early season Sunday afternoon games before they went intoMonday Night Baseball. ABC's contract was further modified prior to the1980 season, with the network airing just fiveMonday Night Baseball telecasts in June of that year, followed bySunday Afternoon Baseball in August and September. ABC did Sunday afternoon games late in the season in order to fulfill the number of games in the contract and to not interfere withMonday Night Football.
In1981, ABC planned to increase coverage to 10 Monday night games and eight Sunday afternoon games,[14][15][16][17] but theplayers' strike that year ended up reducing the network's schedule to three Monday night and seven Sunday afternoon telecasts.
On April 7, 1983, Major League Baseball, ABC, and NBC agreed to terms of a six-year television package worth$1.2 billion. The two networks continued to alternate coverage of theLeague Championship Series (ABC in even numbered years and NBC in odd numbered years), World Series (ABC televised theWorld Series in odd numbered years and NBC in even numbered years), andAll-Star Game (ABC televised the All-Star Game in even numbered years[18] and NBC in odd numbered years) through the1989 season,[19] with each of the 26 clubs receiving $7 million per year in return. The last package gave each club $1.9 million per year. ABC contributed $575 million for regular seasonprime time and Sunday afternoons and NBC paid $550 million for thirty Saturday afternoon games. ABC was contracted to televise 20 prime time regular season games a year in addition to other games (the aforementioned Sunday afternoon games).
During the 1986 season,Don Drysdale did play-by-play ABC's Sunday afternoon games, which aired until July, whenMonday Night Baseball began.Al Michaels did the main Sunday game usually withJim Palmer, while Drysdale andJohnny Bench did the backup contests. No Sunday afternoon baseball games were telecast nationally in1988 and1989.
CBS initially did not want to start their1990 coverage until after the network had aired that year'sNBA Finals (which was the last timeCBS aired the Finals before the NBA's move toNBC[20]). Therefore, only 12 regular season telecasts were scheduled.[21] The broadcasts would have been each Saturday from June 16 through August 25 and a special Sunday telecast on the weekend of August 11–12 (theNew York Yankees against theOakland Athletics in Oakland on both days). Ultimately, four more telecasts were added – two in April[22] and two on the last two Saturdays of the season.
On Sunday, May 5,1991, CBS broadcast games involvingCleveland atOakland (withJack Buck andTim McCarver on the call) andBoston at theChicago White Sox (withDick Stockton andJim Kaat on the call). And then on Sunday, July 14 of that year, Dick Stockton and Jim Kaat called a game inAnaheim between theNew York Yankees andCalifornia Angels.
Beginning with the 2008 season, TBS broadcast a weekly game nationally on Sunday afternoons,[23] under the titleSunday MLB on TBS. These games were not exclusive to TBS and wereblacked out in local markets, to protect the stations that hold the local broadcast rights to the games. In the affected areas, simulcasts of programming from sister networkHLN aired in place of the games, but recently, a message stating that the game was unavailable due to contractual requirements was aired until the game ended. Pre and postgame coverage remained available. Under the deal, TBS could show an alternate game in those markets, but the network elected not to do so.
Despite initial reports that TBS would carry games onMemorial Day,Independence Day andLabor Day, these holiday games were not part of the contract. For many years, games on these holidays were shown onESPN, but that network discontinued them, with the occasional exception of when those holidays fell on ESPN's regular broadcast slots.
TBS released a partial schedule of its inaugural slate of Sunday games on February 27, 2008. More games would be added as the season progressed, generally two weeks before each telecast date.[24] TBS had the second pick of game after ESPN.
Consequently, due to its non-exclusivity,[25] highlights of a scheduled game that aired onMLB on TBS were not shown on theESPN baseball highlight showBaseball Tonight, nor are live simulcasts and highlights of the said game on the MLB.TV subscription service; instead local broadcasts of the scheduled game were shown. However, highlights of anMLB on TBS game did air on theMLB on Fox weekly programThis Week in Baseball (until it was canceled in 2011), as well asMLB Tonight on theMLB Network.
On September 24, 2020, it was announced thatWarnerMedia had renewed its rights through 2028 (aligned with the conclusion of Fox's most recent extension). A major change in the contract is the replacement of TBS's late-season Sunday games with a new, primetime game on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season.[26][27][28]
In March 2022, it was reported byThe Wall Street Journal that NBC Sports was finalizing an agreement to establish a new package of Sunday afternoon games beginning in the2022 MLB season. The 18-game package will air exclusively on the premium tier ofPeacock, with the broadcasts produced byNBC Sports. It was reported that one game of the package each season would be simulcast on the NBC broadcast network, which will mark its first two national MLB broadcasts since 2000.[29] NBC formally announced the deal on April 6, and that the inaugural broadcast would be a game between theChicago White Sox andBoston Red Sox atFenway Park on May 8.[30] NBC branded these games asMLB Sunday Leadoff.
On May 13, 2024, Major League Baseball announced the package would move toThe Roku Channel for the 2024 season. Games will also be available blackout free toMLB.tv customers.[31]