Nearly five months after MLB and ESPN mutually agreed to terminate their network agreement after 2025, the two parties might be working out their differences.
MLB and ESPN have reportedly renewed discussions on a potential deal to keep the network involved in baseball, per The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. Any deal that would arise from the talks, which are in the early stages, would focus on local rights and parts of ESPN’s old package, per Marchand.
ESPN has been airing MLB for more than three decades, but the partnership went sour earlier this year, with both sides agreeing to part ways in February.
ESPN’s current $550 million deal gave it the right to broadcast “Sunday Night Baseball,” the Home Run Derby and around 10 playoff games per season. Though the media rights contract ran through 2028, the deal had a March 1, 2025 deadline for either side to opt out.
In May, NBC made an offer to take over ESPN’s signature “Sunday Night Baseball.” Per Marchand, Apple and Fox have also been in talks to obtain parts of ESPN’s current package, with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hoping to have a deal by the All-Star Game in mid-July.
In terms of ESPN and MLB, the reasons for the breakup were different for each side. MLB was frustrated with the network’s lessened coverage, while ESPN had reportedly been asking MLB for a lower rights fee. Both sides took issue with each other’s stance.
In a statement at the time, MLB called ESPN’s call for a lower rights fee “simply unacceptable.”
“We have had a long and mutually beneficial partnership with ESPN that dates back to its first MLB game in 1990. Unfortunately in recent years, we have seen ESPN scale back their baseball coverage and investment in a way that is not consistent with the sport’s appeal or performance on their platform,” the league wrote.
Meanwhile, in its own statement, ESPN made a point of saying that it “super-serves fans” with its baseball coverage, essentially denying Manfred’s claim.
If no new deal is reached, ESPN and MLB will officially part ways in October, after the end of the 2025 season. But new negotiations could salvage a 35-year partnership as MLB moves into a new media landscape. The league has shifted its broadcasting significantly over the past few years, building partnerships with streaming services like AppleTV+, Roku and Peacock, while also dealing with the repercussions of Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy and subsequent broadcast fallout.
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