ESPN, MLB could end broadcast partnership after 2025

2025 may be the final season that ESPN is a Major League Baseball broadcast partner, a development that could have rather drastic affects on the sport moving forward.

Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported that both sides have agreed to opt out of their current rights deal, a move that would take affect after this upcoming season:

Major League Baseball and ESPN have “mutually agreed” to end their national television deal after the upcoming 2025 season, according to a memo baseball commissioner Rob Manfred sent to his owners Thursday afternoon that was obtained by The Athletic. Manfred wrote 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.”

There's some truth to the fact that ESPN's lineup of shows does not cover baseball to the same extent that they do the NFL, NBA and probably even college football. 

What's also true is that ESPN — even if it doesn't have the sway it once did — remains the biggest sports media brand. Pretty much every cable or cable-esque package includes the four-letter network. Baseball, like most things in society, has become more niche over the last 25 years. But if Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, the Wild Card Series and other broadcasts leave ESPN, that would only seem to further that dynamic. 

For what it's worth, just because the two sides opt out doesn't mean they can't reach a new rights deal. Although you get the sense that MLB probably needs ESPN more than ESPN needs MLB. And MLB likely isn't thrilled about that reality. 

In its statement, ESPN says it's "open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025" and that it's applying "discipline and fiscal responsibility." https://t.co/Icc0vQldKF pic.twitter.com/jkMXyW3v3t

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 20, 2025

Major League Baseball's statement on the decision: pic.twitter.com/4MwWPpT9h5

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) February 21, 2025

According to Drellich's reporting, ESPN is paying $550 million annually to MLB, while Apple TV ($85 million) and Roku ($10 million) are paying much smaller fees for Friday Night Baseball and MLB Sunday Leadoff. Manfred did point out in a memo to league owners that these packages aren't necessarily comparable, though: 

“First, the inventory involved in the Apple and Roku deals is very different from the ESPN inventory. The ESPN deal contains the only truly exclusive regular season windows on Sunday nights, the exclusive right to an entire round of playoffs, and the Home Run Derby, one of the most exciting events of the summer. In contrast, Apple and Roku have games that compete against a complete slate of other games broadcast in local markets. In fact, in the last round of bargaining with ESPN, they declined to purchase the inventory we subsequently sold to Apple and Roku. Second, given the strength of our product we do not believe a reduction in fees is warranted. Sunday Night Baseball ratings were up 6% in 2024 over 2023, which is notable given that 2024 was a summer Olympics year. The 2024 MLB Wild Card Series was the most watched ever, averaging over 2.8M viewers per game, up 25 percent from 2023. Our Home Run Derby is the highest rated skills competition in any professional league. In addition, our demographics are extremely attractive. The overall male/female ratio on ESPN is 73/27 while MLB on ESPN is 68/32, with growth among women outpacing men this year. In addition, our Hispanic audience on ESPN is ~10%, significantly above most other sports on their platform." 

Manfred went on to say that there are "several interested parties" and that the league anticipates having "at least two potential options for consideration over the next few weeks." 

It's unclear whether MLB is intent on keeping the current ESPN package all in one, or whether it could sell off certain pieces individually. For example, maybe Netflix could get Sunday Night Baseball and Amazon Prime Video could get the Home Run Derby. Those are two random examples of potential broadcast partners. 

Interestingly, Manfred pointed to the fact that most ESPN viewers still watch the channel through cable, opining that "we do not believe pay TV is the future of video distribution or the best platform for our content." That may be true, but ESPN will be launching a direct-to-consumer option later this year. And while "pay TV" might not be the future, it still is the way to reach the largest amount of people right now. Perhaps we're reaching the point where streaming will usurp that, although modern takes on the traditional cable bundle like YouTube TV and Fubo make you wonder if that's the case. 

It isn't particularly difficult to sign up for Apple TV, for example, but there's still plenty of bitching every time a game is on that platform. The best way to fix that would probably be to allow all MLB games — whether they are local or national telecasts — to be broadcast through MLB.TV. That way, diehard fans pay one price at the beginning of the season, and regardless of who is broadcasting the game, they still log into the same app every night. With that said, one of the major reasons companies like Apple TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have gotten into live sports coverage in recent years is because they hope if you log into their app to watch a game, you'll stay and watch a show or otherwise purchase something. That's lost if everything goes through MLB.TV, so perhaps consumers hoping to have a one-stop shop would need to pay a higher price. 

There isn't an exact answer to all of this, but it's an interesting discussion as baseball approaches the expiration of their current CBA after the 2026 season. From here, as much as ESPN's coverage has never been the same since they moved on from the No. 1 booth of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, it's still probably in the best interests of the sport to find a way to extend their partnership with the Worldwide Leader.