By Isabella Simonetti and Jared Diamond
Major League Baseball and ESPN are ending their media rights partnership after more than three decades, a sign of how legacy TV’s decline and streaming’s ascendance are changing the way Americans watch sports.
The league and Disney’s ESPN said Thursday that they plan to end their current deal after the 2025 season. ESPN was due to pay the league $550 million a year from 2026 to 2028 for the right to air 30 regular season games per season, as well as the annual Home Run Derby and Wild Card playoff round.
Years of cord-cutting have upended the economics of entertainment, prompting media companies to re-evaluate some of their spending. Disney is working to improve the profitability of its direct-to-consumer business and transition ESPN to a streaming future while being prudent with its sports deals, prioritizing high-profile packages such as National Basketball Association rights.
ESPN made an “aggressive effort to reduce rights fees,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told team owners in a Thursday letter seen by The Wall Street Journal. The sports giant sought terms that were more comparable to what Apple and Roku pay in their rights deals, a request that the league rejected.
“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,” the company said. ESPN said it is open to finding “new ways” to serve MLB fans after 2025.
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