Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says the league is close to determining the future of its MLB national television rights package, currently held by ESPN, with a decision expected in the near future.
Speaking during Sunday night’s broadcast of the Little League Classic on ESPN, Manfred told viewers that the league is in the final stages of negotiations.
“We’re having very detailed conversations with a number of parties, including ESPN,” Manfred said. “We hope to have it resolved in the next couple of weeks. It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle, but we will have it resolved in the next few weeks.”
ESPN’s Karl Ravech, who was calling the game for the network, made clear the network’s interest in keeping the package in-house, saying on the broadcast, “I put my hand up for hoping that we stay involved.”
The current agreement between MLB and ESPN runs through the 2025 season. ESPN and MLB mutually announced an end to the current agreement earlier this year. The mutual opt out of the final three seasons of its $550 million annual agreement between MLB and ESPN included rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and a portion of MLB’s postseason coverage including the wild card round.
While ESPN has been a longstanding partner for the league, broadcasting Sunday Night Baseball as its flagship package, there has been speculation about whether other media entities—streaming or traditional—will attempt to secure a share of the rights moving forward. There has been reporting that MLB is in discussions with Amazon, Apple, ESPN, and NBC Sports for several concepts of a rights package.
Manfred noted that while negotiations are ongoing, the league has been encouraged by strong performance metrics both on and off the field.
“We’re having another great attendance year, we’re going to be above 70 million again,” Manfred said. “I think it’s a good thing we’re seeing some teams — Detroit’s played so well, Milwaukee’s played so well, it’s a great thing. I think the Dodgers-Padres rivalry is getting into that same zone that the Yankees and the Red Sox are in and have been in. The game on the field we feel like is in really, really good shape.”
Manfred had originally set a date of the MLB All-Star game in July to settle the broadcast rights agreements, but the timeline passed with no deals official.
While no timeline was specified beyond the “next couple of weeks,” the clarity Manfred provided signals that baseball’s media landscape could soon look very different.
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