In a move that dramatically shakes up the sports TV landscape, ESPN and Major League Baseball have decided to part ways after the upcoming MLB season, ending a 35-year relationship between the sports TV giant and league, and bringing some prime sports rights to the market.
“We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN’s coverage super-serves fans,” an ESPN spokesperson tells The Hollywood Reporter. “In making this decision, we 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. As we have been throughout the process, we remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025.”
Another source described the decision as “mutual,” with the league seemingly happy to test the market for some of its most valuable rights.
As alluded to in the ESPN statement, the decision comes at a pivotal moment for the Disney-owned sports giant, which is preparing to launch a new streaming service this year with all of its live programming, including MLB games.
Sources told THR last summer that ESPN was likely to opt out of its MLB deal when the window opened this year, given the cost of the rights, though ESPN executives also expressed interest in pursuing deals with regional sports networks to bundle those with its streaming offering.
ESPN has been inking deals for rights that it deems critical, like last year’s massive NBA contract, or the deal with NCAA that includes women’s March Madness, but it has also been willing to let major rights go, like MLB and Big Ten.
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