As Major League Baseball continues to speak with companies about potential partnerships following the mutual opt-out of the final three seasons of its media rights deal with ESPN, the league has reportedly held conversations about licensing the package of games to networks and/or digital platforms. The reported discussions come at a time when 27 out of the 30 MLB teams have introduced direct-to-consumer streaming functionalities as the league considers bundling local and national rights. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic was the first to report this development, which occurs after a year in which MLB.TV accrued 14.5 billion minutes watched, indicative of a 14% year-over-year proliferation.
MLB.TV is currently sold through Major League Baseball for $149.99 per season, and fans are able to access the service utilizing online platforms accessible on phones, computers and smart televisions among other devices. Users are able to select different audio and video feeds from around the league and also view statistics, highlights and recaps through the platform.
ESPN will continue to serve as the home of Sunday Night Baseball, the MLB Home Run Derby and games in the Wild Card Round of the postseason this year. As reported by Marchand, NBC, Google, YouTube and FOX are said to have demonstrated levels of interest in the package held by ESPN. Later in the year, ESPN is preparing to launch its direct-to-consumer platform and introduce technological advancements to its app. It remains unknown if the two sides will be able to reach an amended deal to continue partnering on live game broadcasts, although Marchand noted that a new deal would be expected to last for “no more than three seasons to line up with MLB’s other TV contracts.”
MLB.TV experienced an outage on Opening Day that affected baseball fans from around the country trying to watch their favorite teams take the field to begin the season. The league acknowledged the outage and offered a coupon to its subscribers offering a discount for purchases at the MLB Shop. The platform continues to provide out-of-market access to all 30 teams around the league and has introduced various new innovations since its launch in 2002.
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