ESPN recently announced its broadcast schedule for the early regular-season slate of games on its Sunday Night Baseball property. Throughout the prime time presentation, there are several marquee matchups featuring teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. Yet as the network prepares to embark on another season of broadcasts, it could reportedly consider opting out of its existing seven-year media rights deal with the league. Negotiations, however, are said to have started between ESPN and MLB ahead of spring training, according to a report by Mollie Cahillane of Sports Business Journal.
ESPN is reportedly aiming to reduce its number of games while using leverage to renegotiate the contract, whereas MLB continues to try and bundle local media rights. The league has conveyed a desire to pool some of these rights to sell more inventory nationally when its broadcast deals expire in 2028. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has previously expressed the company being able to assist in the distribution of local rights and would be willing to consider deals with teams and leagues. The emergence of Diamond Sports Group from Ch. 11 bankruptcy, now known as Main Street, has resulted in the subsidiary broadcasting local games for nine MLB teams this upcoming season across its FanDuel-branded regional sports networks.
ESPN experienced viewership success on its broadcasts of Major League Baseball throughout the 2024 regular season, achieving an average of 1.51 million viewers for its Sunday Night Baseball property. The prime time broadcast achieved its most-watched season since 2019 and was up 6% year-over-year and registered growth in various key demographics. The subsequent Wild Card Series was the most-watched on ESPN platforms, augmenting 25% from the previous year with an average of 2.82 million viewers across nine games. ESPN has broadcast MLB games since 1990, the first year of a four-year agreement reportedly worth $400 million in which it televised 175 games per season.
In addition to ESPN, MLB games are broadcast across a variety of other broadcast, cable and digital platforms. FOX Corporation is the broadcast home of the World Series and also presents other games throughout the postseason and regular-season under a seven-year media rights deal. Warner Bros. Discovery presents regular-season matchups and select postseason rounds on its TBS broadcast network. Streaming options for MLB games in the regular season includes Apple TV+ on Friday nights and The Roku Channel on Sunday mornings.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
