MLB and ESPN End Broadcast Partnership After 2025 Season

Image credits: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball and ESPN have mutually agreed to end their national television deal after the upcoming 2025 season. The decision was announced on Thursday, with a March 1 deadline looming for both parties to opt out of the final three years of their contract. The current deal, which was agreed to in 2021, averaged $550 million per season, but ESPN deemed this amount to be above the current market value. As a result, the network has decided to exercise its option to opt out of the deal, bringing an end to a partnership that has been in place since 1990.

ESPN's coverage of MLB games will conclude at the end of the 2025 season, but the network remains open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across its platforms beyond 2025. The network has been scaling back its baseball coverage in recent years, reducing its regular-season game broadcasts to 30 games, mostly on Sunday nights, and the wild-card postseason series. ESPN also had the rights to the Home Run Derby and 10 spring training games. The previous eight-year deal, which ran from 2014 through 2021, saw ESPN broadcast up to 90 regular-season games. The network stopped airing the daily "Baseball Tonight" highlights and news show in 2017. MLB, on the other hand, is seeking new broadcast options, with the league stating that there is "significant interest from both traditional media companies and streaming services who would like to obtain rights to MLB games."

The decision to end the broadcast deal is a significant one, with MLB receiving an average of $729 million from Fox and $470 million from Turner Sports per year under deals that expire after the 2028 season. ESPN, meanwhile, is looking to reduce its costs, with the network feeling that the market has changed and that baseball should make adjustments accordingly. Apple is paying $85 million per year for baseball rights, while Roku is paying $10 million a season for baseball rights. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a memo to team owners that the league has "not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN's platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage." The league is now exploring new options, with Manfred stating that MLB will have its marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby, and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform starting in 2026.

Some of the key statistics and facts related to the deal include:

• ESPN paid around $550 million a year for the rights to early rounds of the postseason, the Home Run Derby, and the sport's prime time national game of the week, "Sunday Night Baseball," among other events.
• MLB receives an average of $729 million from Fox and $470 million from Turner Sports per year under deals that expire after the 2028 season.
• Apple is paying $85 million per year for baseball rights, while Roku is paying $10 million a season for baseball rights.
• Sunday Night Baseball ratings were up 6 percent in 2024 from the year prior.
• The 2024 MLB Wild Card Series was the most watched ever, averaging over 2.8M viewers per game, up 25 percent from 2023.

The end of the broadcast deal between MLB and ESPN marks a significant shift in the sports media landscape, with the league now seeking new broadcast options and the network looking to reduce its costs. As the media landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how MLB and ESPN navigate this change and what the future holds for the sport.

The decision to end the broadcast deal is also a reflection of the changing viewership habits of sports fans, with more and more people turning to streaming services to watch their favorite teams and players. As a result, MLB and ESPN will need to adapt to these changes and find new ways to reach their audiences. The league is now exploring new options, with Manfred stating that MLB will have its marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby, and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform starting in 2026. This move is expected to have a significant impact on the sports media landscape, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the coming years.