Special Baseline from MLB Office to NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Center – Leads Fans to Opening Day Baseball Experiences Featuring Batting Cages, Photo Op with World Series Trophy & Baseball Customization
MLB Returns to NBC Sports this Thursday, March 26, Featuring Star-Studded Doubleheader on Opening Day presented by Adobe – Pirates at Mets at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock; Diamondbacks at Dodgers at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
New York, NY and Universal City, Calif. – March 23, 2026 – Continuing what Aaron Judge started hitting baseballs from Yankee Stadium into various shows and studios at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters in Manhattan – highlighted throughout “Legendary February” in a promotional spot celebrating the return of MLB to NBC– a pair of giant “baseballs” this morning were embedded in the Sixth Avenue sidewalk (12-foot wide baseball) outside Major League Baseball’s New York headquarters and at Universal CityWalk Hollywood (8-foot wide baseball).
Each giant baseball features team logos and tune-in details for NBC Sports’ two Opening Day matchups (details below). The baseballs are part of unique fan experiences NBC Sports has created to celebrate its return to Major League Baseball. In addition, in New York:
- A “basepath” from the giant baseball outside MLB’s headquarters will lead fans to NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters, which will feature:
- Batting cages for fans’ first swings of the spring (beginning Wednesday)
- An area for pitchers to get their fastball clocked (beginning Wednesday)
- A photo opportunity with the World Series trophy (beginning Wednesday)
- A baseball customization station (beginning Wednesday)
- A large viewing screen for fans to watch coverage of Pirates-Mets at 1 p.m. ET and Diamondbacks-Dodgers at 8 p.m. ET
FROM NEW YORK TO L.A. – MLB OPENING DAY ON NBC & PEACOCK
NBC Sports’ star-studded Opening Day presented by Adobe doubleheader this Thursday, March 26) begins at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, as reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates visit Juan Soto and the New York Mets at Citi Field. Play-by-play voice Matt Vasgersian calls Pirates-Mets alongside analysts Al Leiter and Neil Walker. Ahmed Fareed will host pregame coverage alongside analyst Adam Ottavino.
At 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, in the only primetime game on Opening Day, Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks face four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani and the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Jason Benetti handles play-by-play, joined by analysts and World Series heroes Luis Gonzalez and Orel Hershiser. Host Bob Costas will be joined by analyst and three-time Dodgers’ NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw for an on-location pregame show at Dodger Stadium, where the Dodgers will raise their World Series championship banner.
NBC SPORTS’ MLB TRADITION
NBC Sports has a distinguished history with Major League Baseball. The first-ever MLB television broadcast was a 1939 Cincinnati Reds-Brooklyn Dodgers doubleheader on W2XBS (the precursor to WNBC-TV) in New York. NBC Sports was a home to the first World Series broadcast in 1947, the first All-Star Game nationally broadcast in 1952, and has televised 39 World Series – more than any other network.
From 1957-2000, NBC Sports was home to a wealth of baseball programming, including Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball telecasts, more than 30 All-Star Games, and countless iconic Postseason moments. For the 2022-23 seasons, Peacock was the exclusive home of MLB Sunday Leadoff, a first-of-its-kind Sunday morning presentation featuring a unique three-announcer broadcast booth with one analyst with expertise on each team joining the play-by-play voice.
--NBC SPORTS--
