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  • Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff WriterMay 13, 2024, 05:28 PM ET

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      ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

Major League Baseball announced Monday that it has agreed to an exclusive, multiyear contract with the streaming company Roku, which will air one game each Sunday this season from now until the middle of September. Terms were not disclosed.

Roku’s package, branded as “Sunday Leadoff,” consists of 18 games starting with this coming Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. ET contest between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox and lasting through Sept. 15. With the exception of two West Coast start times, Roku games will be the first ones taking place in varying exclusive windows. Twenty-four teams are part of the package, including the New York Yankees (July 14 against the Baltimore Orioles) and Los Angeles Dodgers (Sept. 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks).

Games on Roku can be watched free through the app, on Roku devices or via Amazon Fire, Samsung and Google TVs, among other outlets. Those with MLB.tv subscriptions can watch the games blackout-free.

MLB will produce the broadcasts and said in its news release that it plans to use “market-focused” broadcasters for the games. The goal, a source with knowledge of the deal said, is to use either local broadcast crews or MLB Network talent with ties to the region.

Roku has launched an MLB Zone channel that will act as a “one-stop destination for fans to browse, discover and stream everything MLB,” according to MLB’s release. It said the Roku Channel reached an estimated 120 million people in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The deal with Roku, which comes two years after select Friday matchups began appearing on Apple TV, is the latest MLB effort to make games available through streaming devices at a time when the linear-cable model is quickly deteriorating. Roku’s deal essentially replaces one previously held with Peacock, NBC’s streaming service.

Diamond Sports Group, which originally held the local rights for 14 MLB teams, has spent the past 14 months in bankruptcy court and recently failed to agree on a new deal with one of its three major distributors, Comcast. That development left fans around the country without access to their local teams and might significantly impact Diamond’s ability to emerge from bankruptcy.

Team owners blamed the uncertainty of their regional sports contracts for limiting their spending this offseason, a circumstance that has created even more tension with the MLB Players Association midway through the current collective bargaining agreement.

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Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

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17 mins ago

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May 4, 2025

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Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

  • ESPN News Services

May 3, 2025, 07:18 PM ET

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sovereignty outdueled 3-1 favorite Journalism down the stretch to win the 151st Kentucky Derby in the slop on Saturday.

Trainer Bill Mott won his first Derby in 2019, also run on a sloppy track, when Country House was elevated to first after Maximum Security crossed the finish line first and was disqualified after a 22-minute delay.

This time, he knew right away.

Sovereignty won by 1½ lengths and snapped an 0-for-13 Derby skid for owner Godolphin, the racing stable of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

It was quite a weekend for the sheikh. His filly, Good Cheer, won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday and earlier Saturday, Ruling Court won the 2,000 Guineas in Britain.

Sovereignty covered 1¼ miles in 2:02.31 and paid $17.96 to win at 7-1 odds.

Journalism found trouble in the first turn and jockey Umberto Rispoli moved him to the outside. He and Sovereignty hooked up at the eighth pole before Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado pulled away.

Baeza was third, Final Gambit was fourth and Owen Almighty finished fifth.

Rain made for a soggy day, with the Churchill Downs dirt strip listed as sloppy and horse racing fans protecting their fancy hats and clothing with clear plastic ponchos.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

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3 hours ago

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May 3, 2025

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Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

  • Associated Press

Apr 30, 2025, 07:23 PM ET

FORT WORTH, Texas — Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old driver already with two NASCAR Xfinity Series race wins, will miss Saturday’s race at Texas because of lower back injuries sustained in a last-lap wreck at Talladega.

Trackhouse Racing said Wednesday that its development driver will return as soon as possible to the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. The team didn’t provide any additional details about Zilisch’s injuries.

Cup Series regular Kyle Larson will drive the No. 88 in Texas. After that, the Xfinity Series has a two-week break before racing again May 24 at Charlotte.

Zilisch, sixth in points through the first 11 races, was driving for the win at Talladega Superspeedway when contact on the backstretch sent his car spinning, and head-on into inside wall.

Zilisch won in his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen last Sept. 14. He added another win this year at Austin, the same weekend that he made his Cup Series debut. He has six top-10 finishes in his 15 Xfinity races.

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23XI, Front Row ask judge to toss NASCAR claim

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3 hours ago

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May 3, 2025

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23XI, Front Row ask judge to toss NASCAR claim

  • Associated Press

Apr 30, 2025, 07:08 PM ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR asked a judge to dismiss the sanctioning body’s counterclaim in court Wednesday.

In a 20-page filing in district court in North Carolina, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports opposed NASCAR’s motion to amend its original counterclaim. The teams argued that the need to amend the counterclaim further demonstrates the weakness of NASCAR’s arguments, calling them an attempt by NASCAR to distract and shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions.

NASCAR’s counterclaim singled out Michael Jordan’s longtime business manager, Curtis Polk. Jordan is co-owner of 23XI Racing.

The legal battle began after more than two years of negotiations on new charter agreements — NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise model — and the 30-page filing contends that Polk “willfully” violated antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the most recent charter agreements.

23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign the new agreements, which were presented to the teams last September in a take-it-or-leave-it offer a mere 48 hours before the start of NASCAR’s playoffs.

The charters were fought for by the teams ahead of the 2016 season and twice have been extended. The latest extension is for seven years to match the current media rights deal and guarantee 36 of the 40 spots in each week’s field to the teams that hold the charters, as well as other financial incentives. 23XI and Front Row refused to sign and sued, alleging NASCAR and the France family that owns the stock car series are a monopoly.

NASCAR already has lost one round in court in which the two teams have been recognized as chartered organizations for the 2025 season as the legal dispute winds through the courts. NASCAR has also appealed a judge’s rejection of its motion to dismiss the case.

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