As you know, MLB and ESPN mutually agreed to end their longtime agreement with three years remaining on the deal, back in February.
Now, per Andrew Marchand at The Athletic, the Worldwide leader is one of several TV channels negotiating with Major League Baseball for potential broadcast packages that would begin in 2026:
Major League Baseball executives are in negotiations that could result in new broadcast packages and relationships with Netflix, ESPN, NBC and Apple, according to officials briefed
ADon the discussions.
NBC/Peacock and Apple TV+ are considered the top contenders for “Sunday Night Baseball” and first-round playoff games, while ESPN could add weekday games and a bigger daily digital presence, the officials said. Netflix has emerged as the potential Home Run Derby destination.
No deals have been finalized, and talks are active, creating an opportunity for other platforms to jump in. All the contracts are expected to be for three seasons.
According to Marchand, the major MLB properties that are up for discussion in these negotiations include the following, all of which are currently part of the ESPN package: Sunday Night Baseball (which has been an ESPN property for 35 years), the Home Run Derby and early-round postseason games.
Here’s one of the most intriguing possibilities:
Netflix has emerged as a strong contender for the Home Run Derby, which Bloomberg recently reported. Netflix is into eventizing, and the Derby may fit its strategy. It could also add World Baseball Classic rights in Japan, which Puck first reported.
Just so you know. dictionary.com says “eventizing” is not a word.
Anyway — I like watching the Home Run Derby, but I am not now a Netflix subscriber and would likely not subscribe just to watch that single event. Also:
Meanwhile, Apple and NBC/Peacock appear to be the final contenders for the “Sunday Night Baseball” package and, presumably, playoff games. Apple already pays $85 million annually for exclusive Friday doubleheaders. It is possible MLB could split Sunday night and the playoffs.
What this says to me is that SNB is likely to go to streaming. Obviously, Apple already is a streaming platform covering baseball with its Friday Night Baseball games, and if NBC winds up with part of this package, they would likely move the Sunday Night Baseball game to Peacock, while putting postseason games both on Peacock and on other NBC-owned channels.
The Athletic article notes that while ESPN and MLB had a rather acrimonious divorce earlier this year, the channel is still interested in carrying MLB games:
A weekday package could keep ESPN in the baseball business, while the network is also interested in MLB.TV, the league’s crown jewel that offers out-of-market games for all its teams. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has repeatedly stated his interest in local games as the network launches its new direct-to-consumer product next week.
The most important thing about all this is that whatever packages are divvied up among the various suitors, MLB wants all of them to go no more than three years, to end after the 2028 season. That’s because MLB’s deals with Fox and TBS end after 2028 and the league wants to have all its broadcast rights up for bid at the end of the 2028 season. Commissioner Rob Manfred has made no secret that the league would like to package all those broadcast rights as one — and possibly include local rights as well, though good luck getting teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets (and Cubs, too) to give up their lucrative local RSN deals, even while it might be a good deal for small-market teams. The league would have to give those big-market teams an incentive to give up their local deals and go in on a large national package.
Yes, this is likely going to wind up costing you more if you want to watch everything baseball. Whether that includes the Cubs remains to be seen. Is this a good thing? Well, for the league it might be, as it would theoretically provide much more revenue overall. For the consumer? Not really, as the cost of watching games is nearly certain to go up.
That’s just the way the TV landscape is in the 2020s. Much as some might like to go back to the old broadcast+cable model, that ship has sailed.
As always, we await developments.
