On Thursday evening, a sports media bombshell dropped when ESPN and MLB announced that they’ve “mutually agreed” to part ways in a media relationship that dates back 35 years.
ESPN opted out three years before the current contract expires, ending a partnership that began in 1990.
The current deal runs through the 2028 season and has ESPN paying MLB $550 million per year, but that deal will now conclude after the end of the upcoming 2025 season.
ESPN has complained that its deal was too expensive, considering that MLB’s deals with AppleTV and Roku are $85 million and $10 million, respectively, per year.
But MLB disagreed.
“Given the strength of our product, we do not believe a reduction in fees is warranted,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a memo on Thursday per The Athletic.
Manfred noted ESPN’s continued fall in distribution (now under 54 million homes), the limited coverage the network gives MLB outside of live games and the big ratings ESPN drew in for last year’s wild-card playoffs.
MLB will now take the rights back to market and explore deals with a new partner/s, but a return to ESPN could still be an option through a different media rights deal.
