MLB’s new draft TV plan faced criticism despite historic NBC debut

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MLB finally put its draft on broadcast television in 2026, but the historic move was overshadowed by criticism over the league’s television strategy.

The draft was held on Saturday afternoon and went head-to-head with regular-season MLB games. The first 90 minutes of the draft, covering just the first 10 picks, aired on NBC. Picks 11-40, the remainder of the first three rounds, occupied the next two hours on MLB Network. The remainder of the draft, which took place the next day, streamed exclusively on MLB.com.

That is an immense change in the television options for the MLB Draft. MLB Network aired the first round every year beginning in 2009. From 2020 to 2025, the first round of the MLB Draft aired on both MLB Network and ESPN.

2026 brought major changes to those arrangements. MLB Network no longer simulcast the first 10 picks, which became exclusive to NBC, and the draft moved from Sunday primetime, without competition from MLB games, to Saturday afternoon to accommodate NBC’s broadcast window.

The frequent shifts in where to find draft coverage, and the decision to conduct it while games were being played, drew criticism from baseball writers and draft analysts.

FanGraphs’ Michael Baumann argued “this is clearly no longer a mainstream-interest event. The schedule is different and the TV sets are a million times fancier, but MLB is once again treating the draft like it’s for sickos only. Which is fine. Like I said, I’m a draft sicko. It’s just disappointing that the league is no longer trying to create more of us.”

Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper reached a similar conclusion: “The MLB draft seems to be getting further away from its goal of becoming a semi-mainstream product. Day 1 of the 2026 draft on Saturday made it clear just how small a sideshow this beloved annual event for draftniks remains as part of MLB’s larger All-Star weekend.”

If we want MLB’s draft to be as great as every other major sport, first and foremost—-it can’t be in the middle of the day while MLB games are going on and having to watch it on multiple streaming services.

— Dani Wexelman (@DaniWex) July 11, 2026

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also caught flak for mispronouncing the name of No. 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky, who was selected by the Chicago White Sox.

The MLB Draft is such a joke.

– Manfred mispronounces the 1st overall pick
– Then, he coughs while announcing the 5th pick
– Change channels after 10 picks
– TV only airs 40 picks out of ~600
– Construction crew LOUDLY tears down stage while the 3rd round is being streamed

— Matthew Knope (@matthew_knope) July 11, 2026

Baseball writers may argue these changes have made the MLB Draft more niche, but the league already has one of the least-watched professional drafts by a wide margin. In 2024, the most recent year with complete viewership data available, the draft averaged 863,000 viewers across ESPN and MLB Network. Only the NHL Draft, which averaged 502,000 viewers on ESPN, drew a smaller audience. Both paled in comparison to the NBA and NFL drafts that year, which averaged 3.6 million and 13.6 million viewers, respectively.

The post MLB’s new draft TV plan faced criticism despite historic NBC debut appeared first on Awful Announcing.

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