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Facebook, MLB Announce Exclusive Deal to Stream 25 Games

Facebook announced Friday that it has partnered with Major League Baseball (MLB) to air 25 weekday afternoon games this season in an exclusive deal.
Sputnik

The games will be available for free to Facebook users through the social network's Facebook Watch feature, via the MLB Live show page.

The first game to be streamed on Facebook will be a match-up between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets on April 4, followed by Milwaukee-St. Louis on April 11, Kansas City-Toronto on April 18 and Arizona-Philadelphia on April 26.

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"It is a major creative step forward in serving our diverse, passionate community of fans, who will enjoy a uniquely interactive experience watching our games on Facebook each week," Tony Petitti, the league's deputy commissioner of business and media, said in a statement.

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According to Facebook, recorded broadcasts will also be available globally, excluding select international markets.

Tech companies are apparently in the race to lure users with live streaming sports events. In 2016, the National Football League contracted with Twitter to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games for a reported $10 million. The following year, the NFL struck a similar $50 million streaming deal with Amazon.

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