(Bloomberg) — Major League Baseball and Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN are ending their broadcast relationship at the end of the 2025 season, calling it quits on ties that go back to 1990.
ESPN is pulling out three years early from a seven-year deal in which the network was on the hook to pay the league $550 million a year to air 30 regular season games, the Home Run Derby, the Wild Card playoff round and up to 10 spring training games. The deal allowed for ESPN to opt out of the contract by March 1, 2025.
In making the decision, ESPN said Thursday it “applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital and social platforms.”
In a separate statement, the league said the parties “mutually agreed” to end their national TV deal after the coming 2025 season.
ESPN has scaled back its baseball coverage “in a way that is not consistent with the sport’s appeal or performance on their platform,” according to the league. And it sought to pay less money. “ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable,” MLB said.
The Athletic reported earlier on the breakup.
With ESPN’s retreat, the MLB rights will be up for grabs to other bidders for the 2026 season through the end of the new contract. Analysts at Citigroup estimate about $1.7 billion, or about 5%, of US national sports rights are set to expire over the next 12 months. Those include rights for F1, UFC and WWE’s Premium Live Events, according to a note from Citigroup to investors.
Like other sports, baseball has spread its coverage among numerous local, national and online outlets. Fans can watch baseball on Fox Corp. networks and on Turner networks owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Baseball is also carried by Apple TV and Peacock. Games are aired by regional sports outlets that carry local teams and a league-owned streaming service.
Neither the league nor ESPN’s statements ruled out the sides joining again on a new deal.
“We remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025,” ESPN said. The league said it has seen “significant interest from both traditional media companies and streaming services” for taking over the ESPN rights.
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