MLB putting playoff games exclusively on a streaming service is officially too far

This year, for the first time, several MLB postseason games will not air on television.

As part of NBC's acquisition of the entire Wild Card round, the White Sox-Astros and Cubs-Padres series will air exclusively on the Peacock streaming service.

One note for YouTube TV subscribers: you can stream the games through NBCSN on the YouTube TV app. It's not television, but it could save you the cost of a separate Peacock subscription.

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The decision to air two postseason series exclusively on Peacock is unlikely to sit well with baseball fans, a demographic that has traditionally been slower to embrace streaming than fans of other major sports.

In fact, many are still unhappy that MLB required Netflix subscriptions for Opening Night and the Home Run Derby. Wait until they discover Peacock isn't free, either.

Peacock subscriptions range from $8.99 to $19.99 per month, or $89.99 to $199.99 per year.

For years, the prevailing assumption across the industry was that MLB would be more reluctant than leagues like the NFL to move playoff games behind a streaming paywall. The viewership data has largely supported that belief.

While streaming-exclusive NFL games still trail comparable broadcasts on traditional television, Amazon has shown that football fans are increasingly willing to follow the sport wherever it airs.

Last season, Amazon Prime Video set an NFL streaming record by averaging 31.61 million viewers for the Packers-Bears Wild Card game. The broadcast also generated the highest single-day global viewership and the most concurrent streams in Prime Video history.

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MLB and the NBA must remember where they stand relative to the NFL. For context, the viewership for the Home Run Derby in June set a 20-plus-year low as it aired on Netflix for the first time.

Still, fans frustrated by the limited availability of the Wild Card round should not blame NBC. The decision ultimately belongs to MLB.

In previous years, ESPN aired the Wild Card round across ESPN and ESPN2. NBC no longer operates a national cable sports network and must reserve its broadcast network for local news, national news, and other daytime programming.

Peacock was the only practical home for the remaining games.

MLB could have sold NBC only half of the Wild Card round—the portion that will air on NBC—and licensed the remaining series to another television partner. Fox and TBS, both existing MLB rights holders, would have been logical candidates. Even ESPN, which retained a smaller package this season, could have aired the games.

Instead, MLB determined that Peacock carrying the series exclusively was an acceptable trade-off. We suspect many baseball fans disagree.

Fortunately, the rest of the MLB postseason will air on television across Fox, FS1, and TBS. Streamers can also watch the games on FOX One (all the Fox and FS1 games) and HBO Max (all the TBS games).

It shouldn't be this hard, confusing and expensive to watch live sports from home.