Earlier this year, Major League Baseball and ESPN jointly announced they mutually agreed to end their TV rights deal after the 2025 season.
ESPN has been the broadcast home of numerous MLB events for more than three decades, including “Sunday Night Baseball” games, the Wild Card Series and Home Run Derby.
Multiple networks and streaming services have shown interest in taking over all or some of ESPN’s TV rights package, including Apple, Fox and NBC. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he hoped to find a replacement by the All-Star Game in July.
However, MLB and ESPN have reportedly reopened talks to see if they can continue their longstanding relationship, via Andrew Marchand of The Athletic:
Representatives for Major League Baseball and ESPN have renewed talks to keep the sports network involved in the game after a contentious break-up earlier this year, sources briefed on the conversation told The Athletic.
The discussions were described to be in their early stages and, if they were to progress, would center around local rights and pieces of ESPN’s former package.
It appears that MLB wants to keep ESPN involved one way or another beyond the 2025 season, even if that entails selling part of their TV rights deal to another broadcaster.
A previous report suggested that the league is looking to sell the rights to their MLB.TV package, which figures to draw interest from ESPN as they get set to unveil a new app.
NBC made offer for ESPN’s MLB TV rights package
In May, it was reported that NBC made an offer to take over ESPN’s TV rights. If the media conglomerate wins the bidding, it is believed that several MLB events would also be streamed on Peacock beginning with the 2026 season.
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