Today is Opening Day of the 2026 MLB season. The season kicks off with a coast-to-coast showdown (on Netflix!) between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. But it’s the off-the-diamond news that’s making the biggest waves. Beyond a streaming service partnership, baseball's also now in business with Polymarket, and facing labor strife that could lead to an offseason lockout going into 2027. So, yeah, there's a lot to talk about.

In this special episode of The Deal, Alex breaks it all down for Jason, reflecting on his own participation in the 1995 MLB lockout and responds to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred saying off-season lockouts “should be the new norm.” He also explains what he sees as the MLBPA’s non-negotiables, his thoughts on the MLB having a salary cap and why now is the best time to invest in baseball. Finally, Alex shares the baseball storylines he is most looking forward to and his prediction of who will be facing off to win it all in October.

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It’s brackets season! And you can watch all 67 games of both the women’s and men’s NCAA tournament on national TV, thanks to David Levy. Levy spent 33 years at Turner Broadcasting, eventually serving as its president, where he expanded the network’s NBA coverage. Levy is probably best known for brokering a $10.8 billion rights agreement that made every March Madness game available nationally across CBS and the Turner networks for the very first time.

In this episode of The Deal, Alex and Jason talk to Levy about the ins and outs of the March Madness deal. He also tells the story of how he got Shaq to fill Inside the NBA’s fourth chair and why the key to that show’s success is letting Charles Barkley talk. Finally, Levy shares more about his current venture, Horizon Sports & Experiences, and why he’s betting big on women’s sports and pickleball.

You can also watch this interview on the Bloomberg Podcasts YouTube page.

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Tonight, the United States and Venezuela face off in the finals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. And chances are, a lot of you will be watching. Based only on pool play, this year’s WBC viewership is up 142% from the 2023 tournament. 35,000 people have bought tickets to tonight’s final and over 100 million Japanese fans tuned in to watch Shohei Ohtani. Aaron Judge called the crowd at the U.S.-Mexico game on March 10th, “bigger and better than the World Series.”

In this special episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez shares his reaction to the phenomenon that is the 2026 World Baseball Classic with his co-host Jason Kelly. Rodriguez talks about the national pride his fellow Dominicans felt over the past few weeks and explains why MLB commissioner Rob Manfred needs to capitalize on this momentum leading into what Rodriguez calls “the most important season in the history of the sport.”

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