MLB Expands Presence In China, Signs Multiyear Deal With Tencent

MLB has signed a multiyear deal with Tencent to live stream games and highlight footage in China, providing a new foothold for the league in the world’s most populous country. MLB had previously been aligned with Le Sports to stream in China following a deal announced in early ’16. Le Sports shut down last month following an extended series of financial difficulties. The new deal, designating Tencent the official digital broadcasting partner of MLB, calls for the company to live stream 125 games this season, including all jewel events, and have exclusive rights for PC, mobile and OTT platforms. The coverage will begin with a newly created “Super Baseball Week” that will feature five consecutive days of live games, beginning with Indians-Angels tomorrow. Tencent also will work with MLB to support ongoing youth baseball development events in China and develop and host an online MLB fan club in the country. Financial terms were not disclosed. MLB VP/Asia Pacific Jim Small said, “We are thrilled to team with Tencent, the largest and best distributor of digital sports content in China and a company that is widely admired around the world. We are confident that the assortment of MLB games, shows and events that Tencent will stream will entertain millions of sports fans in China and help continue to grow the sport.” There has been a prior relationship between MLB and Tencent, as Tencent holding Riot Games in late ’16 partnered with BAMTech, prior to that company’s majority acquisition by Disney, regarding distribution and digital product development for League of Legends.

MORE GAMES ON TWITTER: MLBAM and Twitter will bring back weekly live games on the social media platform beginning Thursday, with a new focus on weekday afternoon time slots. This comes after Tuesday night games were primarily used in ’17. The weekday afternoon games on Twitter conceptually mirror what MLBAM is doing this season with Facebook, which also is focused on a weekday schedule when social media usage is high. While Facebook has exclusive rights to the games and will employ a MLB Network production tailored for social integration, the Twitter MLB games will use one of the participating team’s RSN feeds and will be shown on an out-of-market basis. Like many other live sports productions on Twitter, the MLB games will be available for free to both logged-in and logged-out users. Real-time game highlights will also be available this season via the league’s @MLB feed.

Download the Initial MLB Twitter Games