• ESPN broadcasts championship on Sunday, May 3, with the champion scoring $25,000 donation for the Boys & Girls Clubs affiliate in his community

Select games from the final 10 days of the MLB The Show Players League, including the Playoff tournament, will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and MLB Network beginning this Thursday, April 23rd. The Players League is benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada with a total of $175,000 being donated across the 30 MLB Club communities.

ESPN2 will broadcast select regular season matchups this Thursday and Saturday from the first-ever competitive league of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s MLB The Show, solely featuring Major League players. MLB Network will broadcast select regular season matchups this Sunday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET. MLB Network will also air a one-hour MLB The Show: Recap program highlighting the latest action in the tournament on Sunday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Following these regular season contests, the top eight teams advance to a Playoff tournament slated for air on ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1.

The Quarterfinals begin Friday night, May 1st, on FS1 with two best-of-three series. The Quarterfinals continue on Saturday afternoon, May 2nd, on ESPN2, before the Semifinals Saturday evening. ESPN2 and FS1 will each air a best-of-three Semifinal series on Saturday night, May 2nd. The winners of each Semifinal face off in the best-of-five Championship Series on Sunday, May 3rd, on ESPN. (A complete schedule is attached to the end of this release).

Last week, Major League Baseball (MLB), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) launched the formation of the league where 30 players are representing their Major League Clubs in this inaugural online event to engage fans around the world and raise funds for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada. The lineup includes 11 former All-Stars, five World Series Champions, and eight players age 25 or younger. Each participant is playing in a round-robin format (i.e., playing every team one time) for a total of 29 regular season, three-inning games.

If the season ended today, the top eight players and their teams that would reach the Playoffs are: 1) Joey Gallo, Texas Rangers; 2) Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays; 3) Jeff McNeil, New York Mets; 4) Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays; 5) Gavin Lux, Los Angeles Dodgers; 6) Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox; 7) Fernando Tatis, Jr., San Diego Padres; and 8) Trevor May, Minnesota Twins.

Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and Sony Interactive Entertainment will donate $5,000 on behalf of each participating player to a Boys & Girls Clubs affiliate in their team’s community. The stakes for the competition are enhanced with the league champion earning an additional $25,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club in his community.

Boys & Girls Clubs (in both America and Canada) are providing important services to help their communities navigate this new and challenging climate. Boys & Girls Clubs are facilitating provision of meals, lending support to families of first responders and medical workers, offering mental health services, and providing virtual programs for their members.

In between television broadcasts, fans can watch streams of games on a variety of digital platforms, including Twitch and YouTube. MLB Network host and avid gamer Robert Flores is continuing to provide commentary, recaps, analysis and conduct player interviews throughout the tournament. Stream information, scores, schedules, standings and highlights are available at MLB.com/PlayersLeague.

Fans can engage with the players in a variety of viewing experiences on the Official MLB YouTube, Twitch, Twitter & Facebook pages; Sony San Diego’s Twitch page; MLB Network’s Twitch account or any of the individual players’ feeds. MLB The Show is officially licensed by MLB and the MLBPA. Follow MLB The Show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest information and updates.