Major League Baseball is attempting to be proactive after the shocking news of the end of their longstanding relationship with ESPN. In fact, MLB is already entering early discussions with multiple prospective new and old rights partners according to reports.
Sports media insider John Ourand reports at Puck that the league is already in talks with three heavy hitters about a potential rights package – Amazon, Netflix, and NBC. He also notes that discussions are not just limited to the Sunday Night Baseball package that ESPN is leaving behind, but also a more holistic view of baseball rights when the league’s other media deals with Fox and WBD hit the market.
In addition, Fox is reportedly looking at a 4th of July holiday showcase that could become a new tradition and picking up the Home Run Derby that also aired on ESPN as part of their All-Star Game offerings.
As far as the contenders go, each makes sense for different reasons as Amazon, Netflix, and NBC have been big players on the sports media open market.
Amazon has been by far the most aggressive streamer when it comes to building up a sports portfolio. And if they are able to add Sunday Night Baseball or a comparable MLB package they would boast three of the four major sports leagues along with their new NBA package and Thursday Night Football for the NFL. It would further separate them from the pack as far as the streaming giants go, especially when you also consider their new arrangement serving as a partner for the FanDuel RSNs.
Netflix is slowly entering the fray as a competitor for sports rights and a Sunday Night Baseball package might be a sensible counterpart to their new weekly offering of WWE Monday Night Raw to give them a one-two throughout much of the calendar year. Beyond that, picking up a couple playoff games would align with their strategy to showcase major one-off sporting events, like the NFL on Christmas Day.
Much to David Zaslav and WBD’s chagrin, NBC and Peacock are building their streaming platform around live sports. And with Sunday Night Football already established as the top primetime show in America and Sunday Night Basketball on the way next season with the NBA on NBC’s return, Sunday Night Baseball would be a perfect fit. It could literally give NBC a premium pro sports property on Sunday nights 52 weeks out of the year.
Even though MLB and ESPN have been going their separate ways from sometime, there should be no shortage of suitors for baseball rights when they become available, either now or in 2028. Of course, the major unknown is just how valuable each side thinks they are and whether or not baseball can close the gap on rights fees that have left the sport caught in this pickle.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
