"Baseball can control whether there are baseball games to watch in 2027. If owners and players can't figure that out, they won't have to worry about the NFL stealing their audience."
The audience marks the property's most-watched game in the last six years, excluding its broadcasts of games with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
"Our initiative with Peacock was a valuable experience with a collaborative partner in our ongoing effort to explore a variety of streaming offerings for our fans as their consumption habits continue to evolve."
Ourand indicated that ESPN could utilize its contractual opt-out as soon as 2024 to try and secure additional local market telecasts for its streaming and linear platforms.
The network’s lead broadcast booth of play-by-play announcer Joe Davis, color commentator John Smoltz and reporter Ken Rosenthal is returning for the season.
Kay will be on the call for ESPN's MLB World Tour: London Series broadcast when the Mets and Phillies play in June. He will also call a Wild Card playoff series although it is not known yet who his partner will be.
"Baseball can control whether there are baseball games to watch in 2027. If owners and players can't figure that out, they won't have to worry about the NFL stealing their audience."
“Once you can rock the mic in a state where you can hardly pronounce any of the towns, but you still connect with the people, you feel like you can make it anywhere, especially where you’re from."