Major network in talks to take ESPN’s $550 million MLB live TV rights in broadcasting change for next season
A BIG TV network has been in discussions to replace ESPN’s broadcasting deal with MLB, starting in the 2026 season.
ESPN opted out of its deal to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and the wild-card round of the playoffs after this season.
GettyESPN will not broadcast Sunday Night Baseball and other of its MLB programming after the 2025 season[/caption]
GettyA rival of ESPN is reportedly interested in replacing ESPN’s MLB live TV coverage[/caption]
Last week, Puck’s John Urand reported that MLB has been talking with companies including NBCUniversal, Netflix, and Amazon.
The report added that the talks “are as focused on 2028, when all of baseball’s national rights go on the block” instead of matching the package that ESPN opted out of for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
However, Front Office Sports reported that one source revealed that NBC is interested in broadcasting the MLB because the network could have a premium live sporting event on Sunday nights throughout the year.
NBC has had plenty of success with Sunday Night Football and will have NBA games in place for that slot after each NFL season ends.
MLB could then cover the summer months before the NFL returns.
It’s not known what the price tag would look like to take on the broadcasting change.
ESPN was set to pay $550 million per year through 2028.
But The Wall Street Journal reported that they were only willing to pay “no more than 200 million a year.”
ESPN is believed to have pointed out that the league has cheaper deals with other companies, as Apple pays $85 million a year and Roku $10 million.
The MLB said no and that the comparisons weren’t fair.
The league will now look to find a rival broadcaster to put together a live TV broadcast plan.
The Sunday night package should be appealing to a company like NBC.
Last year, ESPN’s Sunday night package averaged 1.51 million viewers for the season, its highest ratings in 5 years.
NBC and MLB have a history together.
They were partners from 1947 to 1989 and from 1994 to 2000.
NBC’s streaming platform Peacock also had a Sunday package from 2022 to 2023.
The network has a great history of showcasing the NFL and the Olympics, from their superb production to their iconic broadcasters.
NBC or whoever will acquire MLB’s next live TV package, which could be similar to ESPN’s current one, will have competition.
Fox has the biggest MLB rights package.
The network broadcasts the World Series yearly.
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