NEW YORK CITY — NBCUniversal sports division unveiled a pair of giant baseball sculptures embedded into sidewalks in midtown New York City and at Universal CityWalk Hollywood. NBC won the rights to a package of Sunday games previously held by Disney's ESPN.

The New York sculpture, measuring 12 feet wide, is situated outside Major League Baseball's headquarters on Sixth Avenue. The Universal CityWalk Hollywood version is eight feet wide. Both sculptures were constructed from milled expanded polystyrene and feature team logos and tune-in details for two Opening Day games telecast by NBC Sports.

NBC's three-year deal with MLB includes 18 Sunday games that start around noon locally and will be simulcast on NBCSN. The agreement also gives NBC access to all four Wild Card series of the postseason.

"We are going to get core MLB fans who are excited to have baseball back and we are going after broader audiences and consumers who love a tentpole moment," said Lyndsay Signor, senior vice president of consumer engagement at NBC Sports, in a media interview.

The baseball display continued a series of promotions depicting Aaron Judge hitting baseballs from Yankee Stadium into various shows and studios at NBC's New York headquarters. In New York, a baseline from the giant baseball outside MLB's headquarters leads fans to NBC's 30 Rockefeller Center, where starting Wednesday they will find batting cages and photo opportunities with the World Series trophy. A large viewing screen for watching NBC Sports Opening Day doubleheader coverage is already set up at 30 Rockefeller Center.

In October, NBC opened a custom LED basketball half-court at 30 Rockefeller Plaza with 30 pieces of team-inspired basketball artwork. The display called "30 Rocks at 30 Rock" was used to generate interest in NBC's new NBA schedule. Maria Taylor, Michael Bublé, Tom Llamas, Dylan Dreyer, Sam Brock and Carl Radke made appearances at the NBA half-court event along with NBA legends John Starks, Ron Harper, Jason Richardson and Joakim Noah.

NBC Sports has a long history with baseball broadcasting. The network hosted the first World Series television broadcast in 1947 and the first nationally televised Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1952. From 1957 to 2000, NBC Sports was home to programs including Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball, and has televised 39 World Series overall.