New Roku-MLB TV Deal Moves Rangers-Giants Game Time

The Texas Rangers will play their Sunday game with the San Francisco Giants 90 minutes earlier than originally scheduled.

May 12, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher José Ureña. | Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers will play early on June 9 when they wrap up their three-games series with the San Francisco Giants.

As part of the new MLB Sunday Leadoff deal struck with Roku on Monday, the Rangers and Giants will now be the featured game in that window. In order to accommodate it, Texas announced that the game time would move up from the traditional 1:35 p.m. Sunday game time to 12:05 p.m.

As it is an exclusive national broadcast, Bally Sports Southwest will no longer carry that game. This will be the Rangers’ only appearance on Sunday Leadoff in 2024.

The contest is the last of a three-game series that marks the second time that Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy will face his former team, which he led to three World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The two teams met last season in San Francisco. Bochy led the Rangers to their first World Series title in November.

The Sunday Leadoff games have been on Peacock, which is part of NBC, the past two seasons. But NBC and MLB were far apart on an asking price for a new multi-year deal, per The Athletic. NBC was hoping to pay $10 million while MLB was looking for $30 million.

The terms of the new deal were not disclosed, but the deal is for multiple seasons. Roku will get 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.

Peacock is a paid streaming service, while Roku is a free service. 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.