Commissioner Rob Manfred of Major League Baseball (MLB) has attended the CES 2016 to announce a three-year strategic partnership deal between the league and China's Le Sports. This deal aims to live stream America's national pastime to fans and potential fans in the Chinese mainland as well as in Hong Kong and Macau.

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This deal marks the first mass market MLB media agreement in China. If the TV coverage is well received in China, then there could be more games picked up in the near future.

China's leading Internet eco-sports company Le Sports will have exclusive media rights in the country to broadcast 125 MLB games per season with Mandarin-language MLB programming. It will distribute the games and other MLB content using its Internet platform, mobile applications, and other devices.

The live streaming schedule of 125 games includes four high-definition games per week during the regular season that consists of 96 games in total, 20 HD postseason games, the Home Run Derby, the All-Star Game, and all World Series games.

Le Sports has the right to rebroadcast on-demand games via video and benefit from e-commerce opportunities to sell MLB paraphernalia. It also plans to establish an online community for all 30 MLB clubs, making it a central portal for Chinese baseball fans. It will still continue as the baseball reality show MLB Perfect Pitch's co-producer.

Le Sports can also broadcast the opening and final games of MLB Beijing University Baseball League and MLB Shanghai University Baseball League as well as MLB Play Ball Youth Program games. MLB has not disclosed the monetary value of the abovementioned deal.

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