The future of Major League Baseball’s national media rights deal appears increasingly uncertain. According to a report by Evan Drellich and Andrew Marchand in The Athletic, the league is contemplating walking away from its agreement with ESPN if the network opts out following the 2025 season. Under the current terms, both ESPN and MLB can opt out of the seven-year deal, which is set to run through 2028 after concluding the 2025 season. Any exercise of this option must occur in March of this year.
While MLB’s posturing indicates they likely do not wish to opt out, ESPN has long been rumored to consider restructuring its agreement to secure a more favorable deal. Presently, ESPN is paying the league $550 million annually for its media rights package, which includes Sunday Night Baseball and a Wild Card series in the postseason. In comparison, Fox pays about $728 million per year for its package, which includes the World Series, an LCS, and early-round playoff and regular-season games. Warner Bros. Discovery pays $535 million per year for its package, which covers an LCS and non-exclusive regular-season contests.
Last year, John Ourand of Puck reported that ESPN was dissatisfied with the value of its package compared to other broadcasters, especially considering its deal is not vastly different from Apple’s, which pays a significantly lower fee of $85 million annually for exclusive Friday night games. The Athletic’s report also highlights ESPN’s interest in local MLB rights as it prepares to launch “Flagship,” its direct-to-consumer streaming service, this fall. However, most clubs currently have deals that extend beyond the next season, particularly those that could drive subscriptions for ESPN’s upcoming streaming service.
If MLB does choose to part ways with ESPN, the league would face the challenge of recouping over half a billion dollars annually in lost revenue, a daunting task in today’s television landscape.
