Cubs, Cardinals Take Rivalry to Roku in New MLB TV Deal

The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals will play one of their Sunday rivalry matchups on the free streaming service.

May 12, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Nick Madrigal. | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals in mid-June, and Sunday’s game will have a new television home — Roku.

The Cubs-Cardinals game set for June 16 at Wrigley Field will now be on the free streaming service as part of MLB’s new deal, which was announced on Monday. First pitch is set for 12:05 p.m. central.

The contest is the end of a three-game set with St. Louis. The game will be the Chicago’s only appearance on Sunday Leadoff this season.

The new deal between MLB and Roku is a multi-year contract for the Sunday Leadoff game, which has been an exclusive first game of the day for the past two years. But the contract had been with Peacock.

Per The Athletic, negotiations between NBC, which owns Peacock, and MLB were far apart before the deal with Roku was struck. MLB was reportedly looking for $30 million per year while NBC was offering $10 million.

The terms of the deal between MLB and Roku were not disclosed.

The game is exclusive to Roku and will not be shown on Marquee. But, Roku is a free streaming service, where Peacock is a paid service. To boost access the games will be shown on MLB.tv without blackout restrictions.

Roku will have the rights to the remaining 18 Sunday Leadoff games, starting this Sunday with a game between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. The last of the game is set for Sept. 15.

Roku will also feature an all-new MLB Zone to help baseball fans discover live and upcoming games, nightly recaps, highlights and a fully programmed MLB FAST channel.

Roku says it has 120 million subscribers. But, to increase access, the games will also be available on MLB.tv and will not be subject to blackouts.