NBC’s “Star-Spangled Sundaes” brings ice cream pop-ups to Atlanta and Los Angeles ahead of MLB’s July 5 media push

MLB and NBC’s 4th of July weekend programming is getting a street-level preview. On Friday, NBC will stage “Star-Spangled Sundaes” ice cream trucks in Atlanta and Los Angeles as a lead-in to the Star-Spangled Sunday promotion, when all MLB games on Sunday will be available across NBC and Peacock.

For Braves fans, the Atlanta stop is part of an on-site, daylong fan experience tied to the franchise’s home market. For Dodgers fans, the Los Angeles stop runs from noon to 6 p.m. local time at a designated location near the Dodgers Store in Downtown Santa Monica, according to MLB’s event notice. In both cities, the trucks are themed around baseball, including servings delivered in baseball-helmet-style containers while supplies last.

MLB says each truck will serve Blue Bunny ice cream in two flavors, vanilla or chocolate, along with the classic Bomb Pop. The ice cream stops are designed as stand-alone pop-ups, not tied to a particular concession line at the ballpark, and they are paired with complementary sundaes from ice cream shops across 13 MLB markets as part of the larger promotion.

Beyond Friday’s two-city kickoff, the programming extends into the next two days. MLB reports that on Saturday, the ice cream trucks will move to drive-in theaters in California and Georgia as part of MLB’s Summer Drive-In events in four markets around the country, expanding the same brand theme beyond the immediate game-day ecosystem.

The broader purpose of the campaign is to funnel attention toward Sunday’s unusually concentrated national coverage. NBC Sports has described Star-Spangled Sunday as a one-day broadcast event that will feature all 15 MLB games nationally across NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN, a first for a media presentation of the full slate on a single day.

The distribution plan, as outlined by NBC Sports, starts at noon Eastern with a Braves game matchup involving the Atlanta fan base and continues through multiple windows on NBC and Peacock. In primetime, the network’s “Sunday Night Baseball” segment is slated for another marquee matchup, while additional contests are presented on Peacock, including the ability to view up to four games at once through Peacock Multiview.

For MLB teams, these kinds of cross-market promotions are less about game mechanics and more about reach and branding. A campaign that activates in two of the league’s largest media markets, then spills into other regions through retail partners and drive-in venues, is aimed at converting casual weekend viewers into consistent broadcasters. The timing also matters, arriving on the eve of a media day that is built to keep fans watching across multiple games and windows.

What to watch next is how MLB and NBC measure audience engagement across the weekend’s format. If the fan activations draw meaningful turnout, expect more frequent city-centered partner events in the same category, especially in markets that already have strong retail and local-event integration. For now, Friday’s ice cream trucks offer a small but visible preview of what the networks are calling Star-Spangled Sunday.

The Braves and Dodgers stops are scheduled for Friday between noon and 6 p.m. local time, with themed sundaes available from the trucks until supplies run out.