It was predictable yet still shocking when ESPN decided to terminate its longstanding partnership with Major League Baseball, opting out of their existing rights deal. Given their extensive history together, the idea of MLB without ESPN seems almost surreal. However, indications suggest that it was ESPN who pulled the plug, no longer perceiving the value in their current agreement.
This gut punch arrives at a moment when baseball appeared to be regaining momentum, buoyed by positive reactions to rule changes that enhanced the sport’s appeal as a televised product, contributing to a notable season of ratings and attendance. In the wake of the ESPN deal’s collapse, superagent Scott Boras has placed the blame squarely on the league’s powerbrokers, criticizing their negotiation tactics.
“The most important thing that we need to talk about is revenues,” said Boras. “Because revenues make everybody happy. It increases franchise values. And the NBA TV contract tells you that we are a decade behind in our negotiation for media rights in baseball.”
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“Other leagues didn’t do that,” he added. “When we talk about why our revenue streams are where they are, look at the TV contract and it says that we have got to improve our negotiation of the media rights.”
Boras asserts that MLB needs more competent representation during negotiations but refrained from naming who could take on this role. “The solution is a negotiator. This is about appropriate representation and a rights structure. I think that’s why players hire me. So why wouldn’t MLB hire someone appropriate who knows how to handle that negotiation when they look at the NBA?” he questioned. “We have double the content and higher ratings, yet we’re getting half of what the NBA receives? That should indicate that it’s not the product, it’s the representation.”
“So that’s our biggest problem in baseball. Numero uno.”
While it’s a difficult realization for Major League Baseball, Boras’ points hold weight—especially considering the successes the league highlighted throughout 2024. Ratings, attendance, and overall interest in the sport were on the rise, yet a longtime partner like ESPN is opting out under the current terms? This casts a questionable light on the MLB leadership.
Conversely, the NBA is facing challenges with load management and fluctuating ratings, yet it secured a significant rights fee increase from ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. The new NBA-ESPN deal is valued at $2.6 billion annually, while ESPN views the MLB package as not worth even $550 million. Sure, ESPN has the NBA Finals and not the World Series, but this should alarm anyone involved with baseball.
Additionally, Boras points out that baseball should be excelling in the streaming age, especially considering that MLB Advanced Media was instrumental in shaping the technological landscape for many sports during the transition from linear to streaming. Yet, instead of gaining a competitive edge, baseball appears to have fallen behind.
Would MLB be faring better with a negotiator like Scott Boras leading discussions with ESPN and other networks? Possibly. At the very least, it likely wouldn’t have entered into the favorable deals like the one with Roku that undermined its inventory and contributed to the current situation.
