Major League Baseball has been negotiating with multiple networks and streaming services for ESPN’s TV rights package that is set to expire after the 2025 season.
ESPN currently holds the rights to weekly “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcasts, the Wild Card Series and Home Run Derby, but all of those events will likely be broadcast on different platforms next year.
A recent report suggested that Peacock (NBC) or Apple TV+ could take over “Sunday Night Baseball” and the Wild Card Series, while the Home Run Derby may potentially be headed to Netflix.
According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Apple and NBC are the finalists to acquire the rights to “Sunday Night Baseball” games and Wild Card Series:
Meanwhile, Apple and NBC/Peacock appear to be the final contenders for the “Sunday Night Baseball” package and, presumably, playoff games.
Apple TV+ has been the home of “Friday Night Baseball” since the 2022 season, so they are looking to add even more MLB content to its growing library of exclusive programming. Though, it’s believed Apple TV+ would drop Friday streams if they replace ESPN for “Sunday Night Baseball” games.
Meanwhile, NBC previously aired MLB games in 1947-1989 and again from 1994-2000. More than two decades passed before regular season baseball returned to the network in 2022 as part “MLB Sunday Leadoff” games on Peacock.
MLB looking to split up ESPN’s expiring package would seemingly be a negative outcome for fans as it will require them to have more subscriptions to networks and streaming services.
However, the multiple broadcasting partners will likely lead to more revenue for MLB in the long run. It also would be a significant boon for NBC, as they re-acquired NBA rights for the start of the 2025-2026 season and still broadcast Sunday Night Football with the NFL.
MLB reached framework for new ESPN contract
Although they appear set to lose “Sunday Night Baseball,” the Home Run Derby and Wild Card Series games after the 2025 season, ESPN could still feature MLB programming going forward.
The two sides reportedly reached an agreement on the framework of a new deal, which would give ESPN exclusive rights to roughly 30 regular-season games and MLB.TV.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred previously stated his hope was for a new deal to be finalized by the All-Star Game in July, which didn’t end up materializing. Manfred more recently offered a timeline of having a resolution in place within the next few weeks.
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