Major League Baseball and ESPN are seemingly going to continue their relationship but with a new shape. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the league and the network have an agreement in place which would give ESPN the right to sell all out-of-market games digitally. These rights have previously been sold by the league to consumers as the MLB.TV package. Under the agreement, ESPN will also acquire the in-market rights for the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres, Rockies and Twins. ESPN would also have an exclusive weekly game similar to Sunday Night Baseball, but on a different night of the week. The deal is not yet finalized but could be signed in September. It’s unclear how much ESPN would pay the league for this package but Marchand says it will be “substantial”.
MLB and ESPN have an existing contract but it is about to expire. The deal previously ran through 2028 but both sides agreed to opt out after the 2025 season. Under that deal, ESPN still has the rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Those rights are open for 2026 and beyond. A week ago, Marchand reported that those rights would likely be split up and sold to multiple companies, with Netflix being the favorite for the Derby while NBC/Peacock and Apple TV+ are each trying to get the other components. He echoes that framing in today’s reporting.
The new developments today are potentially seismic. MLB.TV has existed in essentially the same format since 2002. Baseball fans purchase the product through the league and get access to every MLB game, with some exceptions for local blackouts and other games guaranteed to be exclusives for certain broadcasters. If this deal goes through, it’s not exactly clear how it would impact existing MLB.TV consumers but Marchand writes they would likely have to get an ESPN subscription on top of an MLB.TV subscription. It’s unclear how this would impact those who purchase MLB.TV through cable or other linear subscription.
ESPN recently launched a streaming service, allowing anyone to pay $29.99 per month to access the network’s wares, whether or not they subscribe to cable or satellite. The network has recently been building out their portfolio, signing a number of deals with the NFL and WWE.
It now seems they hope to add a number of MLB components to their menu. It’s unclear exactly how MLB.TV customers would be impacted financially. Marchand reports that the basic MLB.TV sticker price should stay the same or could even drop. Paying the ESPN subscription fee as well would lead to customers paying more, though they would also gain access to other ESPN offerings outside of the baseball world. That new arrangement would naturally be a plus for some but a minus for others.
In addition to the MLB.TV plan, it seems ESPN will be gaining local rights for five clubs. Due to cable cutting, the regional sports network (RSN) model has been slowly eroding in recent years. The five aforementioned clubs have all seen their local broadcast deals collapse in recent years, which has led the league to step in and take over. Fans of those clubs have been able to purchase streaming rights, without blackouts, directly from the league. It seems likely these customers will be able to continue in a somewhat similar fashion, though Marchand suggests they would likely have to get an ESPN subscription and then pay an added fee for the specific team they want to access.
In addition to the MLB.TV rights and the local rigths of those five clubs, ESPN will also be getting the rights for some exclusive games to be broadcast nationally. It seems this will basically function the same way as Sunday Night Baseball, though on a different day of the week. It appears the details in this arena are still being worked out, as it’s unclear which day of the week is being targeted. Apple already has the rights to a game every Friday while Roku has an early game every Sunday. Marchand adds that MLB Network could also be part of the deal but that’s more up in the air.
Whatever deal is signed would be fairly temporary. Various different reporters have frequently suggested the league doesn’t want to sign anything that goes beyond 2028. They already have a number of deals expiring after that season. It seems commissioner Rob Manfred is hoping to market a large package, or packages, of rights to multiple broadcasters ahead of the 2029 season. All recent broadcast deals have been relatively short, with nothing going beyond 2028. Marchand reports that is expected to be the case with this ESPN deal as well.
These ongoing broadcast shuffles could hang over the upcoming labor strife. It is widely expected that there will be a lockout after the 2026 season. A prolonged stoppage could lead to games being cancelled in the 2027 season. Manfred and the owners would have to be cognizant of playing chicken with the players and how that could impact these broadcast negotiations. MLB is currently experiencing an uptick in popularity, with measures such as the pitch clock credited with increased attendance and TV ratings. That kind of momentum would help the league sell future broadcast rights but a lockout extending into the summer of 2027 could undermine that.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
EARTHSHAKING RAMIFICATIONS!!! (Ultimately all this means is that consumers are going to have to spend more and jump through more hoops. More money for baseball. More nickel and dining of the fans.)
Not to mention that ESPN’s game coverage is subpar, so you also end up with an inferior product.
I wouldn’t be surprised if ESPN decides that you need to pay a monthly fee for their service and then another fee for every individual game you watch.
That’s what they did with UFC.
I almost didn’t renew this past season. I already know I’ll be dropping Peacock next year. That was great value for those that had been getting the WWE Network. ESPN historically is the worst so I won’t spend more when I don’t watch college sports much. My wife will be happy with the savings. I don’t see them charging anything but more…just not from me.
Yep pay per game.
No way I’d do that.
Aaaahhh, like a stadium ticket licensing play? Good lord!!!!
dewey – You should switch to T-Mobile, they give free MLB.TV ….. every team, every game.
Of course that could change next year depending on how the new TV deals shake out.
I have to imagine the T-Mobile deal is done.
horace – There was a T-Mobile survey about it a few months ago, hopefully all the baseball fans here responded to keep the benefit going forward. They’ve been a major MLB sponsor for a long time.
They have a deal signed through 2028.
Fever, I had T-Mobile for years and they used to be great. Between them removing plans and raising other costs when combined with my Internet provider offered, I saved $$ and got new phones to boot
Fever, with Disney/ESPN taking over, I don’t see the promotion continuing
Yep, ESPN’s poor coverage of MLB teams will just have many like me just continue with our local plans.
I mean, seriously. Why would anyone who isn’t a fan of the pop culture teams ever subscribe to ESPN MLB coverage just to hear lazy narratives, and always be directed to hearing about Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and a couple more perrenial pop culture teams…since ESPN feels they are the only teams that matter?
Tell you what ESPN. us South Florida sports fans will subscribe to watch MLB on your platform when you actually cover the Marlins, and do so with respect instead of letting those northeasterners on your staff show their continued bias toward all South Florida teams. Yeah, we all know you ain’t doing that because it’s just easier to continue with the lazy narratives you’ve done for a long time.
This feels like such a short sighted plan by the league. They will absolutely make more money in the short term by carving up access into lit bits, but they’re pretty certain to lose a notable portion of their viewing audience, maybe not right away, but over time.
It’s like cutting off parts of your body and selling them. Sure you’re making money now, but eventually, you’ll be left with nobody.
@canuck – In essence, hedge fund “thinking”. Line our pockets now but kill the golden goose. I loathe hedge fund aholes.
Same
It’s not the hedge funds, it’s the private equity firms.
You have hedge funds confused with leveraged buyouts.
ESPN is presently owned 80% by the Walt Disney Co. and 20% by newspaper/TV operator Hearst. And the National Football League is acquiring a 10% holding in ESPN, announced earlier this month. Unless private equity has major holdings in Disney this doesn’t have any hedge fund influence.
You are correct websoul…my bad. Hedge funds are one kind of damage when they are operated without ethical purpose or restraint, but I was really alluding to the private equity approach. Thanks!
MLB has made such an extensive effort on “growing the game” any way possible; from on-field rule changes to international venues for regular season games. But it feels like, and has felt like for the better part of a decade, that they couldn’t care less about the true fans that want to watch the sport. This is the latest in a long line of disappointing news that is going to make baseball less accessible for the true fans.
And choosing a bad or expensive streaming service will lose more fans than any asanine rule change.
I live in S Utah and cannot get games involving Tockies or D backs due to the ridiculous black out rules. Neither team is available on local services. Whoever is running this system is a moron and only alienates fans. Can’t wait to see what happens when A’s arrive.
dont tell anyone who works for the……………. HELP, THEY FOUND ME! Hahaha
Try close to 1st pitch tomorrow for COL or ARI or whomever
v2.sportsurge.net/list6-baseball
You won’t get to see them or any team they play home or away either.
Please explain why not just “You won’t”
Any theories you have, Im open to hearing why one cant watch any game within the 4 major, college sports and “other” sports..
Bwood – if I understood your request, I’ll offer my situation.
I purchase mlbtv but I can’t watch SD when they are in Cincy or St Louis because I am considered “in network”. Unfortunately, I gem though I am approximately 3 hour drive for both, I do not actually receive tv coverage from either city on cable so I don’t get to watch those games.
Longtimecoming: What does “I gem” mean? I can’t even think of anything for which it might be a typo.
I have no idea how that got in there!
I too have MLBTV and live about 40 mins from Settle so well within the M’s “network” for MLB to use the “blackout” feature on MLBTV..
I use a free account from Windscribe, for about 5 seconds, that’s an addon to the Firefox browser to get past the “blackout”
If I don’t want to play the game with MLBTV then I go to v2.sportsurge.net/list6-baseball and watch any live game at the time with no “blackout”
Thats were I was going originality. If you use a VPN on MLBTV or just find the game online, it doesn’t matter where you are, in network or not, one can watch a live game.
After I posted, I continued to read the comments and found about 3 comments down from here they were already talking about it.
Try it out in about 2 hrs
uBlock Origin is a godsend while wearing your staw hat too. Absolutely, positively a must while on the high seas.
bwood, we are talking about MLB baseball, NOT other sports. Try to keep your eye on the ball.
Las Vegas will be considered a home game for anyone living in Southern Utah and will be blacked out. It’s not a theory. Its geography.
So you are a thief? Good to know.
Oh, my apologizes.
You must include MLS, CFL Lingerie Football League & your favorite WNBA as the 4 major sports in the US.
Good to know you can open google maps and actually understand what the white lines between states mean, good to know.
Now that you are a map expert, use a road atlas to get to Vegas, let me know when you are good.
While never saying anything about blackouts in Vega/Utah, what make you think the Dodgers are going to give up their media rights there without a fight?
It would take a lifetime of experience in thievery to call one out so be careful when stepping up to your soapbox, as the only thing you’ll see is your own reflection.
And its good to know you cant complete your thoughts in a single comment. I hate it when I have to text your old lady right after I leave, hindsight is a bit*ch, just like you.
Nauru-nomics.
Just a reminder that as long as you have the internet, you can watch any game you want for free, if you know where to look. You might have to deal with some pop-up ads, but it sure as hell beats dealing with craptastic ESPN and the stupid, antiquated MLB blackouts.
I watch games free – excluding Apple – with no advertisements. A few days a month service is spotty but in total it works better than the official MLB dot com site.
I paid around 100 bucks for the year. The MLB site is a godsend for fans of out of market teams.
Im watching every game I want to watch for free. It just takes a little bit of research and a VPN.
Until you’re the example that gets sued. Forty years ago it was the illegal cable box. Then satellite service of Direct TV with people swapping boxes and now pirating off the web with VPN. Someone usually pays…
kingbum: Guess it’s cool to break the laws against theft of services as long as you don’t get caught, huh?
@lloyd
What’s sad I used to pay for cable when my dad was still alive, and the picture quality was better using my computer and dodgy websites than the hd box I had.
Just when we thought ESPN was finally out of baseball.
ESPN is now KING!!! 🤣
Not to the fans of MLB teams that aren’t pop culture teams. I, like all of the other fans from similar fan bases, will just stick to our local plans. ESPN has done a horrible job with covering teams that aren’t in the Northeast or any of the otherbig markets. They have also alienated a great number of fans of teams that don’t meet that criteria. They will have to transform their coverage to bring support from the other markets, but that’s highly unlikely since ESPN has kind of gotten accustomed to lazy coverage and narratives about 20 markets in MLB.
You know ESPN is going to force everyone in those markets to pay $30 a month for their S product
They will try, but it’s going to be a hard sell to fans in the markets that ESPN alienated. For that, ESPN will need to stop with the lazy narratives they’ve done for 20 MLB teams for a long time now.
Sounds maties like we be taking to them high seas soon. ARRRRGGG
I’ve been a loyal member of the Straw Hat crew for 10+ years. Always welcoming new members
What is this straw hat you speak of? Like tin foil for hayseeds? Color me intrigued
I hit the dark waters once I had to sign up for four services just to watch all of my team’s games. It’s like they want us to. And why not? I get the same quality without having to figure out which service I have to use each night.
You wouldn’t steal a car would you?
From the Disney Corporation, sure would!
Everyone get the Vee See box, perfectly legal and free after a one time purchase fee, about $350. Had it for years with no issues. Eliminates all blackouts.
@AI GM You gonna say you never used Napster for ya music back in the day? When fees get ridiculous this is the alternative. Napster made CDs pointless. I would rather get the same feed from someone else than get double charged. VPNs are great for that…
This sucks! I get MLB.tv for $149 and get 95% of non-local games. Now I might have to purchase ESPN, no way!
The money isnt the issue the issue is ESPN is so bad it makes Fox broadcasters look like vin scully
My guess is they will still have the local crews; they just have the out of market rights.
Jordan – Of course! ESPN is not gonna provide a separate crew for every game for out-of-market viewers only. LOL
ESPN will make hundreds of millions selling those Rockies games!
I think the money is also the issue
Every Sports Phans Nightmare
never understood why people care about the broadcaster talking.
I’m watching the game.
regardless, I’m not paying ESPN anything.
I’ll go without or pirate. I have been a mlbtv customer for 10 years but not paying more or a penny to ESPN
What’s this pirate broadcast you speak of? Is it just telecasts involving Pittsburgh? Or does everyone wear eyepatches and parrots and speak with a faux Irish accent. Arrrgh!
They would just be broadcasting the local broadcast the same as mlb does now.
The money is absolutely the issue. Assuming they are going to force you to buy their $40/month package for the right to keep paying $150 annually for out of market MLB games, a $150 service just quadrupled in cost and became $630. And if you don’t like it, your other option is to not be able to follow your team outside of maybe a couple of games per year.
Andrew Marchand floated the possibility of ESPN forcing MLB.tv customers to also subscribe to ESPN’s own streaming service. That’s something Congress could easily find anti-competitive, though I wouldn’t be shocked if the Trump government legalized such extortion.
For those not fully aware, Marchand used to work for ESPN and the Murdoch-owned New York Post, thus his reporting is rooted in gossip.
Fox broadcasters mostly ok except for Smoltz the new Tim McCarver. And the yuk yuk booth of ARod, Papi
You blame shrinkflation. We blame tariffs. Oh wait… NM. Glad to serve you! – MLB.tv
yarrr, good thing there be numerous HD live streams of every game for free!
Yes, your absolutely right, had to buy upgraded local coverage upgrade to watch Marlins, Rays, Heat in basketball… local regional RSN’s collapsed… $18.00 -20.00 monthly, then MLB.TV cable package $149…regional coverage was free prior for local Marlins, Rays , Heat Basketball… INTERESTING to see how ESPN will handle?….
@Baseball Geek
I’m not just worried about the pricing when it comes to ESPN’s potential coverage of the Marlins and Rays – it’s also the quality because both Florida teams’ fan bases are among the fan bases that have been alienated by ESPN due to ESPN’s lazy and inaccurate narratives of both teams, and refusal to cover them unless they are facing one of the pop culture teams. They will have to make things right to get my dollars.
ESPN doesn’t care about MLB baseball… they only care about NFL, College Football, and NBA. They stopped doing Baseball Tonight shows, along time ago. They want glamor match ups on Sunday Night baseball… The new ESPN streaming deal, I hope they don’t mess up current cable customers who have MLB Package, and local sports markets who were forced to pay additional monthly upgrade $20 monthly fee to get what they had prior for free.
To quote Charkes Barkley, that’s just turrriblleee…
He doesn’t go by Chuck anymore, now he goes by Charkles
sad – Charkles? Interesting.
Without thinking this through at all, it appears that Manfred and MLB are selling out the fans yet again.
I already get p***ed off every year at buying the MLB package and still having over 25% of the games either blacked out or sold to others as an out of state fan of the Phils.
I grew up in the era of limited choices, and frankly there are some benefits to that. The news was the news (not FB feeds and echo chamber idiocy posing as such for the morons of the world), and one didn’t have to navigate hundreds of apps and services to figure out how to get a program. Sure – there is a lot more available now, but there is also a dizzying amount of trash out there.
I am of the mindset – fine; I will pay for baseball but make it easy to find out and pay for whatever baseball I want to see. The baseball subscription can be tiered in cost but if you want to get every game then have the one site get every game if you pay for it. I don’t want to figure out how to get games that they sell everywhere else, nor find out that tonight’s game is on Amazon or Roku or Netflix or whatever instead of the previously paid subscription. Argh – get off my darn lawn.
I feel your pain Carver, I’m outside shaking my fist at the clouds as we speak!
If cable companies can figure out how to revamp there model to let you pick what you want Instead of pre picked packages. I can see a shift back to cable given unless your a pirate your paying as much now for steaming services as you were with cable
The prevalent problem with cable is the lack of 4K/8K capability. Too much information to pass through coaxial cables… so invariably, an up-to-date “cable” model would have to be streaming. Ahhh, future problems abound…
@geynning
But if the let you pick what channels to stream still could work.
Concur. Good points brodie! 🤙🏽
Might be good news for the offices of MLB, but this is horrible news for the fans of baseball, I thought I would never have to hear Eduardo Perez ramble again
Why does ESPN want to care about baseball again??? Wouldn’t they rather keep putting on WNBA games and random college games?
I for one like to occasionally check-in on the “random” college games, at times quite more enjoyable than the Mariners
When was the last time the M”s were enjoyable, 95 & 01?
If that’s the case, you must be an expert on college games hahaha.
You will never know the feeling of watching the drought buster home run in 2022 at night
Little Dumpers walk off vs Oakland?
So that was the last time Jerry’s team was enjoyable?
If so, still pretty pathetic but Ill still put my M’s hat on tomorrow.
Oh and most M’s games are at night so……..
People mad at ESPN or Manfred but it’s the team ownerships that ok’d this or else Manfred never makes this move. That guy is just a puppet.
I’m wondering why ESPN would want to have to cover all 30 teams. Is it a ploy to control coverage of all 30 teams so they can expand their continued marketing for the big market teams? Come on! Do we really think ESPN all of the sudden wants to cover the Pirates, Royals, Marlins, Rays, Reds…essentially 20 teams they routinely ignore and occassionally cover or mention with lazy, inaccurate narratives, and a bunch of poorly researched information that is staright out misinformation or, at best, outdated/antiquated?
I’ll still to my local plan as long as it’s still around. I’m not paying for ESPN to continue doing a poor effort with covering the Marlins.
I can’t wait to pay more money for worse coverage!!!! And feed me those gambling ads ESPN!!! Bombard me with them, then create ads calling me a degenerate for using the services you tell me I HAVE to use. I love you ESPN! You are absolutely a sports company!!!
I stand by my username.
Agree. E$PNTOTALLYSUCKS.
Soto should bat first, on base % .380 to .390…
Well, that explanation is just about a clear as mud, but it sure looks like a huge step in the wrong direction. Are we not already pining for the bad old days of cable?
It never ceases to amaze me that these companies spend so much for sports rights and their coverage only gets worse.
Give it all to niche personalities like Pat McAfee chasing dwindling demographics.
In-market for 5 clubs or 17% of MLB…? C’mon MLB. Do the heavy lifting.
“would likely have to get an ESPN subscription on top of an MLB.TV subscription”
sports aint about competition, winning, having fun, or entertainment. its about 1 and only 1 thing. MONEY. cash money $$$$$$
every commercial tells you to gamble. advertisements wants you to sign up and pay more $ for something. in the middle of a game, in the middle of an inning, in the middle of a gd damn at bat, the announcer will go “now in theaters mission impossible 11!” or “get your shake shack burger today!” meanwhile the action on the field is narrowed down to the top right corner so we can see an ad for a chevy truck on screen instead
now espn + mlb are teaming up for ways to squeeze even more $ out of fans. disgusting. absolutely disgusting
I was watching the Pirates game the other night, and while generally excellent, they were announcing odds for things like a batter getting a hit. And the odds were terrible. Basically only odds a degenerate who can’t resist or someone who doesn’t know how probabilities work would play.
Of course, it used to be you kind of had to have an interest in gambling to gamble. Now anyone who doesn’t know anything can blow their paycheck in an evening.
Early in the season, when they first started doing the mandatory gambling line, one of the Pirates announcers asked the other what it meant.. Neither knew.
Lol you mean the money line? Well it’s probably smart now for every announcement team to have what is known as the sharp in the booth. The sharp is the one gambling guru who took information and turned it into a lucrative career. So far this year Im up 10% on my sports bets, basketball is my best sport for it. Sharps are the ones who move enough money to set the odds in Vegas.
Don’t worry, if you’re a consistent winner the sportsbooks just will no longer accept your business. They’ve realized there’s enough chum in the sea that they don’t have to cater to the sharks like Vegas did.
Fan Duel et al will at first start limiting what bets you can make and then eventually you just get a notice that your account has been deactivated.
It’s going to suck going from watching 160 of my teams 162 games to 0 when they eventually butcher MLB.tv for consumers.
Yup.
First ESPN buys NFL network and now MLB
Seems the plan is to force people to get the ESPN streaming app in order to get the games from the NFL and MLB going forward. That’s my thought.
Mind blown
ESPN did not “buy” NFL Network. ESPN will take on NFL Network and the in-season RedZone channel once that league acquires 10% of ESPN.
Also, if that scheme to force people to get the ESPN streaming app to watch baseball and NFL ever happens, you may see the US government revoke that antitrust exemption baseball has enjoyed for over 100 years.
The devil is in the details, and so far, those make this seem less than ideal. First, for out of network games, most baseball fans do not want to have to buy ESPN’s streaming service at $30/mo just to get the games that cost a fraction of that previously. Hope that they work it out where the baseball games are separate for those who want it and part of a bundle for those that do. Second, does this solve the blackout issue at all? Doesn’t seem to at least by what information is now available.
Blackouts are such an antiquated concept that does nothing to improve attendance and only alienates fans that they need as the younger generation has turned to other things.
For the Padres in this whole mess, if Don and Mud are swept away we revolt.
Amen, compadre! Go Pads
Probably keep them but they could fire them no big deal. And charge more $. Most people paying to watch sports doesn’t have anything else to do. A few people will say that’s it but most will just hand over their $.
That initial $29.99 monthly charge won’t exist for long. With all of these acquisitions by ESPN someone is going to have to subsidize the cost and it won’t be ESPN alone that’s where we the paying subscribers come in.
Ad-free Disney+ launched at $7. Now it’s 20.
and l canceled it when it doubled to $14.
These companies have things figured out or think they do. Each price hike is the final straw for some people. Where if they just kept it at 7 or 9.99 people would just keep paying and not even think about it.
Anyone under 30 40 50 I dunno when things became free but under a certain age grew up getting everything for free. But all my friends still paid for Netflix Spotify because of convenience. But at a certain price hike they all began to ? Why am I paying for this?
Now it includes Hulu and ESPN+.
If it ever exists at all. The $29.99 price is for the current ESPN streaming package, sans MLB. Add MLB, then how much?
BTW, who likes paying for streaming programming with ads? Amazon led the way with that beauty. So now, everybody wants a piece of that game.
Amazon is Satan
It’s added in to the Disney + and Hulu package.
“Would give ESPN the right to sell all out-of-market games digitally.” UNBELIEVABLE!
Fans should be able to watch *ALL GAMES* In or out of market! As long as fans are paying for ANY subscription to games, they should be able to watch ALL of the games without any BLACKOUT or in or out of Market Bullcrap!
@AL B DAMNED
It’s funny how they’re crying how the younger generation don’t want to watch or care about baseball while at the same time making it harder and harder to actually watch it. People caught onto baseball because they could turn on the TV and it was there. They didn’t need to subscribe to 10 different channels just to watch their home team play a few times a week.
Young people watch TV ?
Reminds me of the time i asked my daughter to call me and she scolded me with “Dad. No one uses the phone app.”
@foppert3
I’m still watching on my first black and white TV!
Ha ha. You got to give colour a go !
Young people seem pretty adept at finding what they want on the interwebs. I think it’s more of a problem for us old folks.
Exactly, without TBS and all those free Braves games I don’t know if I would have gotten hooked (I probably still would have, but still.)
@MuleorAstroMule
You probably still would have but to a lesser extent. It would be more like what we’re seeing in the NBA where kids are waiting to just watch the highlights on their phone. Watching a full game of basketball is mind-numbing now.
Down here, that’s all about seeing if their Sportsbet won.
AstroMule is living in a 40-year time warp. Those superstation Braves games were NEVER “free”, they were paid for with advertiser money and cable carriage fees.
I am not so sure you would have.
Enough people are willing to pay so they can do whatever they want. Consumer is at fault.
ESPN hasn’t been good since the early 90s. They need to give up on baseball, they just don’t care about it anymore.
So let me get this straight. If IF. I were a padre fan I would have to spend $30 a month for espn for 7 months to watch the games. That’s $210 and an additional fee to watch my specific team? But only get certain games cause fox apple and Roku have the rights to their games.
How much for how little
No one is forcing fans to pay.
It could be worse. If you’re in the states and are a Blue Jays fan, there would be a 25% import tariff on top of it all.
This is the biggest F of Manfreds tenure
And that’s saying alot, Thighmaster! I’ll wait for all the details to breach before my overreaction reaches a pinnacle, but this just plain reeks of schadenfreude. I dislike ESPN so much that I don’t think I’ll be able to pay them a dime. Maybe it is time to take to the high seas and unfurl my “Pittsburgh” sail…!
Gwynn I agree, a VPN is cheaper than all of this.
I’m a fan of the Pittsburgh baseball team because I am their mascot. And they kept pillaging my former teams good players.
Schadenfraud is he the new lefty for the Marlins?
I keep the lube handy.
Break up ESPN
E S P N
Now rearrange P N E S
P E N S
I’m not sure how this could be cheaper since it includes one more entity (ESPN) in the middle who will get a cut. If MLB online was starting from scratch, I could see how maybe partnering with a company that is already set up digitally could be cheaper than reinventing the wheel, but given that MLB online already exists, what value could a partner add?
🤑🤑🤑 for Manfred.
ESPN pays MLB for the rights. You’re already paying MLB for those rights but now you lose those rights and pay the same amount. So MLB gets more, ESPN gets more, and you get less.
wilder since mlb.tv was the first streaming platform i ever got (way back in 2003 or 2004). It pre dated my netflix account by a few years at most.
Streaming was not huge until at least the mid 2000s, so not completely crazy (i was also young and easier to go to the high seas for other content back then than it was to find a way to stream live games- but that seems to have shifted pretty wildly the other direction in the past 20 years)
Your mistake was in thinking this is supposed to be cheaper.
So they want me to go back to radio…
I hear ya.
I think i already listen to more baseball on the radio than watch on TV. It does not hurt that I am an Os fan, and this year has been terrible, so not much of this season has been must watch for me.
I tried a radio streaming app recently. MLB games were blacked out. Just an announcement, “due to blahblahblah…..”
Just get rid of blackouts. Or don’t charge more and more per new season.
yup- what everyone has wanted for years; Streaming of all of the games of a single team for a set price. As an Os fan, when they are good i am watching 100 games in a season so dropping 150-200 for all of them is something i would do. Give me the occasional free game for out of network (which they already have been doing for 20 years) if my team is off that night and i still want to watch a game or i just want to check out what so hot shot rookie is up to.
MLB has the infastructure to do this, just have MLB do it themselves as RSN go under- teams can set their own prices for their market (like the Pirates may need to go like $99 to get people to sign up for them, but the Yankees may be able to get away with $500). No middle men, just market yourself. Get actual TV deals for some random games (and keep your digial rights) to bring more people in. At that point the money from those games matters less than the publicity of having a game on ABC or Netflix.
The very hardest change to make, because most teams have already sold their in-market rights to a broadcasting company for big bucks. The only way to get them back is to compensate them for the lost revenue.
Disney (owners of ESPN) have shown how great they are at buying things and then making them worse. Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar just to name a few have all tanked with Disney running the show.
I can already see how it’s going to go. Want MLB.TV pay $30 a month for the ESPN app (would be shocked if it’s not $45-50 by 2027) plus the MLB package for another $150. I would be surprised if the 5 clubs are not exclusive to the app and you can’t watch them with any cable package.
You want red zone cool pay us $30 a month plus the red zone cost and you will get Disney ads every two mins. Six hours of commercial-filled football starts now.
The big dogs always seem to make the worst possible decision.
I think back to 2005, when 2K Sports (NFL 2K) had Electronic Arts (Madden Football) on the ropes – and then dodged having to, you know, compete by simply buying exclusivity rights that functionally put an end to the NFL 2K series. Then, in direct retaliation, 2K Sports did the same for baseball, signing the death warrant for EA’s MVP Baseball series.
It was bad enough that this killed competition (for example, despite being inferior, Madden at the time was innovative and very good) – the fact that these two purchased monopolies also managed to protect the INFERIOR product while removing ones that, in their final league-official entries, were each arguably the best product for that sport in video game history was the real gut check.
Now it seems we’re on to MLB TV, in my opinion a terrific pound for pound product. I’ve long been a fan of how they do things, to the point that my annual purchase was a no-brainer AND that I would get the package (not password share) for an older relative of mine who was a huge baseball fan. To me, MLB had earned my money with that one.
It’s simple now: try to force me to pay for some service I don’t want simply to have access to this longtime product, and I’m out, period end of story.
Perfectly well said.
Curious to how this affects the Minor League baseball package that currently comes along with the MLB package.
Probably another $30-40 a month.
How does it affect it? Well that’s simple, silly. It means you’ll have to pay for it as well 🫴🏻💰😀🐭
Other than the annoying local blackouts, MLB.TV has been great. Way to ruin a great product. ESPN is just gobbling everything up and making things worse.
This makes the Rangers creation of their own network this past off-season seem like the most genius idea. I know other teams have their own networks as well, and I’d hate to deal with having to keep multiple platforms just to watch my team.
Oh but you will. You will lose any game that Apple chooses to take and you will lose the same for ESPN Woke.
I am a Blue Jays fan where we have had our own network for years and they USE TO broadcast all 162 games plus other teams but now we only get about 153 games thanks to Apple stealing them. Even if you look at a broadcasting schedule for the year it don’t matter it ALWAYS changes when Apple wants a game.
The games on Apple TV+ are pre-selected and a random choice.
The problem is if you are outside the network territory, it does nothing for you because all the rights agreements make it so you can’t subscribe directly to their service if you’re out of region.
Texas fan in Florida? Red Sox fan in the PNW? Chicago fan in New England? You’re SOL. Too bad, so sad, now hand Disney Corp. $500 so you can keep watching your games.
Absolutely the worst case scenario here!
Great. The colossal blob of ESPN with its awful and ever declining coverage is eating the NFL and now MLB.
I am sure this will not be Jon Miller and Joe Morgan quality following a good hour of highlights from Baseball Tonight of 30 or so years ago.
I used to watch 100+ Orioles games per year for years on end, and in the 90s watched Sunday Night Baseball no matter who was on. I expect to watch even closer to zero games than I did this year (2 so far) and not pay another dime.
But I’ll wait to pass full judgement until LeBron tweets, as I do for all my life’s decisions. I am sure Stephen A will be blathering about it soon enough.
Cracked up when I seen Thornton Mellon. Great user name 😂
Manfred recently admitted to their big TV/streaming packages lost fans over the long run and what does he do? The exact same thing again for money. What an A hole. One more big check before he dips out. Complete joke.
So let me get this straight…..Disney acquired the Fox Sports Networks and were forced to sell them to Bally due to Antitrust issues…..all for them to be acquired by ESPN, a network owned by Disney. Full circle.
Technically, ESPN reacquired the streaming rights to five MLB teams. All the former Fox Sports Networks weren’t acquired by ESPN/Disney. Those networks air sports coverage beyond MLB and in some cases air NBA and NHL games.
Additionally, plenty of team’s that had coverage under the Fox Sports Umbrella aren’t part of the five teams ESPN is acquiring the streaming rights to.
This sounds awful. I only have mlb.tv, and have for over 10 years. I don’t want ESPN, Netflix, Apple TV, or any other garbage.
They ain’t forcing you to buy it.
Well, they are and they aren’t. I don’t want to pay an extra $500 a year to Disney, but I also want to be able to watch more than 5 Red Sox games a year. Guess I’ll go F myself.
Not “wanting” ESPN doesn’t mean a thing to them. You’ll be “forced” to have ESPN if you want to continue to have the things you like. That’s the mindset here clearly.
This doesn’t make me happy. Although between this and the looming strike/lockout, it does sound like they are making it a lot easier for me to save $150 a year and walk away from MLB for good
Go ahead and do it now. We won’t miss you. You were even probably going on about boycotting and “walking away from the game” back in 2021/2022 as well
Oh no. And I had based my entire life on your approval. Whatever shall I do now.
I guess I was “even probably” going on about that three years ago too. But I am glad I am living in your head rent free for that long. For someone that remember my comments 4 years later, it seems like you will miss me quite a bit.
You don’t have to. Watch the games for free on gambling sites commercial free.
Totally free with no advertisements.
Hiflew, I agree with you. I have been slowly withdrawing from baseball the last few years. This will push me over the edge.
And before Steinbrenner2728 makes a childish comment. I was the kind of fan MLB wanted: sufficient disposable income, attended spring training, regular season, minor league games and Arizona Fall League. Most of that, except the income part, are increasingly things of the past.
Exactly. Instead of treating their fans well, they are taking them for granted and throwing a hail mary to try and get fans from a generation that really has never shown any interest in baseball. So instead of going out with quiet dignity over the next 4-5 decades, MLB is hastening their own demise by driving away the only people that really like them.
This is where it all probably starts to come to an end for the streaming concept.
I don’t want more services. I want less services. I will pay more money for less services. I will pay more money for a single place to watch everything I want. They called it “cable TV” once upon a time and it wasn’t too bad compared to needing 5 different streaming services AND a linear TV subscription. Baseball is heading in the wrong direction if this is the future.
I really thought the Manfred plan was wait until RSN and national agreement were up, then roll everything into the mlb.tv app so you could get in and out of market games with no blackouts and finally grow the game in areas that are locked up by petty dictators of baseball teams that don’t understand how the future is choice, not restriction. I don’t see things getting better with ESPN having their own streaming platform. Looks pretty bleak for that good future.
Yeah, Manfred’s previous comments made it seem like we’d get that more accessible version of the whole thing. This move goes even further away from that. I suppose it’s possible that we get the more accessible league-owned service after 2028, but why should we have any reason to believe Manfred or his successor will look to make the game more accessible for fans given this is the direction we’re going in?
Like the article says ESPN is losing its cable population at a rather high rate. Having to switch to streaming eventually full time. Now they buy up NFL Network now setting on buying out MLB Network this is definitely a move by ESPN to save their mothership Disney.
The way I am looking at this is when you buy MLB you will be more than likely required to not only purchase a full MLB package but also be required to purchase the Disney package along with the ESPN package. So, for around 3oo to 500 dollars a year you can have 162 games of your viewership of your favorite MLB team road and away except for blackout games, ESPN programing, plus Disney programing. As for the NFL I have no clue yet, but it will not surprise me if ESPN tries to pull off a similar programing packages as MLB. This is just another move to give the middle finger to the sports fans.
First: ESPN did NOT say it would “buy up” NFL Network!
Second: MLB Network is not a part of this contract.
JoeBrady probably is the only one who thinks this is a good thing lol
Don fix what isn’t broken. The MLB.TV app is the best sports streaming app. I HATED when NFL sold out to ESPN. It ruined it.
As an oput of market fan, I like being able to watch the Phillies games with home anouncers, pre and post game shows (great touch this season) along with MLB Network (since I do not have it on YT TV) and minor league ball. MLB FINALLY added the local package to limits blackouts, AND I was able to get a little discount being a Veteran. MLB got it right. There is no reason to change or sell it.
ESPN has their ownb agenda, political and otherwise. Their coverage and commentary is not up to par and often bias. The prgramming is terrible, the camera angles, it’s just awful.
I’ve been an MLB.TV subscriber for 15 years. They pull this off, I’m done.
It was fun while it lasted. This was the first year I could watch my Nats on MLB.tv without resorting to the hassles of a VPN, and, in combination with the MASN+ streaming service, could get home and away games in the MLB.tv interface. This development doesn’t sound good for continuing that combination.
Was so hoping MLB would move away from ESPN and their butchering of the sport’s coverage. Regardless, I’ll just listen on the radio when games I want to watch are on ESPN just as I do when they’re on Apple TV.
For those so quick to criticize, ESPN actually has grown its baseball audience this summer. Emphasis on brand-name teams such as Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs.
Unfortunately, the Phillies have already played almost a dozen games on ESPN this season, leaving me to be forced to watch the ESPN broadcast.
Your comment misses the point. Their baseball audience has grown because of them teams they are showcasing. It has nothing to do with the way they produce, broadcast, or present a baseball game.
Why do they even bother to ask us (the fans) every time we do a survey, if we would like to see all games under one umbrella vs. having to go to multiple different places/platforms to watch your (singular) favorite team?
As a Blue Jays fan I hate the Apple channel BS where I have to miss like 8-10 games a year because, for some reason, they can super seed Rogers first rights to viewing in Canada and now it looks like we will lose more games to ESPN Woke channel. As a fan this just adds to things that make me less interested in baseball.
Agreed. Those AppleTV games are excruciating. Those games are meant to be watched on mute.
Apple TV+ is legally available in Canada, thus if Apple selects a Blue Jays game that’s where you have to go. Full stop.
We already know this but thanks. We’re talking about how AppleTV coverage is garbage and you give us the obvious.
ESPN going after that semi monopoly and force a revenue feed (also great for their BET business). It was bad enough baseball stadiums priced some fans out of the park, a deal like this could price some fans off of TV as well.
Worst decision for baseball fans that purchase MLB tv packages that will be backed out, I probably won’t renew my baseball pack in 2026. I will look for different but probably won’t find a plan that I can live with. MLB doesn’t care about baseball fans.
I’m not sure which is worse. As it is now with ESPNs continuous Yankees/Red Sox choices, or paying so we don’t have to see them nationally. Either way.. not pleased.
Baseball’s periodic Clash of the Titans® returns this Sunday (8/24) and again on 9/14. Both on ESPN. Mark your calendars!
MLB.TV *plus* an ESPN subscription? Nope, I’m out. I didn’t have any intention of getting an ESPN subscription, and this short sighted money grab by MLB isn’t going to make me reconsider that decision.
I will happily listen to awful Nats and O’s games with only the audio AtBat subscription.
Are you sure AtBat won’t be part of what espn is buying from MLB?
MLB doing all it can to lose as many fans as possible.
Probably will gain fans.
You raise a good point. Guess we’ll see…
They’ll probably package NFL their ESPN channel Hulu Disney plus. Bundle this. Bundle that. The ultimate platinum tier super duper Bundle. Lock in for 2 years and save $20 AND get a subscription to ESPN magazine!
ESPN The Magazine is past history.
No I’m pretty sure ESPN magazine is still around. Why would they have ever gotten rid if that? People love magazines.
Technology has clearly given corporations exceptional opportunities to charge whatever the demand will call for. I love baseball for over 50 years now, but the product to me isnt even as good as it was. I still like listensing to ball games, so be it.
ESPN has totally destroyed college football and I have total confidence they can do the same to MLB, even they can’t hurt the NFL much.
Did ESPN bring about NIL? Did ESPN bring about the great realignment of college football?
I’ve had MLB.tv since 2003. I dropped ESPN in 2016. If I’m required to have ESPN to get MLB.tv, I’m done. I’d rather bathe in raw sewage than give money to Disney.
Everyone is always talking about growing the game, this money grab makes games so much less accessible.
I feel bad for fans of the 5 teams going under the ESPN umbrella. If those fans shell out the exorbitant fees laid out here(ESPN+sub plus some premium package to get diamondback/padre/etc games) you better believe teams outside of this model will be gouging their fans as well.
I mean, this to me and I assume a lot of other folks, means much less baseball.
I’m not getting nickeled and dimed for what’s turned into a mediocre product. This shrinks the game.
Looking at a $10+ billion influx of revenue over the next 5 years into MLB.
What I want to know is where is this revenue coming from? Who is watching, anyways? It’s super easy to find someone to talk football with, but baseball is a tough one. It used to be easy 2 decades ago, but certainly not today.
And those next 5 years could include a lockout of the players’ union.
A .45 is more effective
Streaming went from being such a convience to the biggest inconvenience.
If only all of the entertainment you wanted was just available in one package and all came through the same box and you could just easily switch between what you want to watch.
That would be nice.
What’s “nice” to some is an annoyance to others.
Stop thinking like it’s still 1985.
Exactly.
The future is always better. Even when it’s not it is. It just is. Because it is.
Enjoy.
This is an option – vseeboxtv.co/products/vseebox-v5-pro
It’ll be bye bye MLB.TV for me if I have to get another subscription. In Detroit we’ve been stuck with Chicago’s Bennetti for at least 7 more years, and he’s awful. Hello Radio, and the great broadcast team for Detroit baseball. So if Fanduel loses out, and MLB.TV loses out, it’s going to be like returning to the early 60’s where radio ruled supreme !
When a sport is looking for every last dollar, its never a good look. The announcing on ESPN is awful. The Radio is sounding better each minute to me.
If you have MLB.tv you can switch to the radio audio while still watching video. When I watch Dodgers games and Jessica Mendoza is playing the “color analyst” role, I switch the audio over to Rick Monday and the radio crew and still watch the TV feed.
I’ve never tried this. How do you do it?!?
At the bottom right of the viewing screen you will see three icons: a full screen icon, a gear icon, and what looks like a radio tower. Click the tower icon and it will give you the option to change your audio feed (“Audio Options”) while still watching the video. The choices to the right of that are for audio only (meaning you won’t get video any longer), but “Audio Options” in the middle will change audio while keeping video. You can listen to home or away TV crew or home or away radio crew. You also have the option of home or away video feed.
This is fantastic news. Naturally I can’t try it until later but stoked. Thanks dude! I prefer radio broadcasts over TV because they are trying to make you “see” the game.
Yes, that is a great option so I usually have the radio broadcast on while watching the live game on FanDuel live now that Xfinity has the games again. The MLBTV is basically a holdover from the roto baseball days but was stopped for gambling reasons, but when it was stopped gambling on baseball games happened, go figure. I can end it all, MLBTV, AND CABLE, if they all get too dang greedy. The radio works for me with MLB clips to see. Go ahead and jump MLB.
Isn’t there a delay between the two?
That’s all we need, another bunch of games we can’t see unless we pay another streamer. That’ll grow the game for sure!
What a fiasco Robby the robot has thrust upon us.
For a sport that claims they want to increase viewership, they sure make it hard sometimes. The blackout rules are ridiculous. It’s 2025 and if I pay for MLBtv, I should be able to watch any game I want.
but if you had that availability. MLB believes you won’t put you and your family in the car and drive 1,000 miles and buy a ticket!! So blackouts continue.
Dumb rule. People either go to the games or they don’t. I live an hour and a half from Baltimore and go to about 3-5 games a year. Those games aren’t going to make or break the Os.
I think maybe back when blackouts started. With a much broader reach now blackouts make even less sense. I live in NE Indiana and blacked out for 4 teams. All of them at least 2 1/2 hours away. At least none of the 4 are my favorite team. Unless my team plays any of the 4.
I wish blackouts would leave when Rob Manfred does!!!!!!!!
dont like this at all. one thing ive always loved about mlb.tv is the lack of commercials. i dont want to be assaulted by constant gambling commercials.
When love of money is above love for the game, this is the result. They should be asking ESPN why their talking heads can’t and won’t talk baseball.
As an MLB.tv subscriber since 2003, this concerns me.
As a Milwaukee Brewers fan. I find it interesting that the Brewers were not part of the 5 team in market purchase. Which leads me to believe MLB knows the Brewers will end up moving away from Milwaukee.
The Brewers have a valid contract with whoever owns FanDuel Sports Wisconsin.
The Brewers are not moving. The 5 teams that will have their games picked up through ESPN are the 5 teams that chose to have MLB handle their game distribution after Diamond Sports Group, which owned a bunch of regional sports networks, declared bankruptcy. Last year the Brewers extended their lease at American Family Field through at least 2050. They aren’t going anywhere.
Mark A puts the team up for sale. They will move. Sure it says 2050 but there are escape clauses. There always are in those deals. No one can recoup the money at the current value. If the team stays in Milwaukee.
No. The state (technically the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District) is putting up $500+ million into renovations in return for the commitment through 2050. A new owner is not going to be able to take the team elsewhere until after 2050. That was the whole purpose of the lease extension. It makes no sense for the state to pay $500+ million in future renovations if the team could just move whenever they want to.
But regardless, the Brewers not being part of the 5 teams involved in the ESPN deal has nothing to do with allowing (or not allowing) the team to move.
I don’t know how you grow a sport by killing casual fandom. Many of the true fans will begrudgingly pay for the games but casual fans aren’t paying hundreds of dollars of year to watch. If those households don’t have access to the games it limits youth discovery.
They lost the cable money and are trying to soak the die hard fans for every dime they have to make up the budgetary hole so teams can buy more real estate around their publicly funded stadiums.
My fandom is on life support. I’m probably not the only one.
I’m a pretty die hard fan and I’m serously considering stepping back from this mess until it gets sorted out.
That’s the energy baseball fans need to have.
Cant help but feel like all this is going to be bad for us the customer.
Good thing we made a conscious choice to allow 5 companies to own everything on Earth.
Slashed that evil “red tape”.
Working out great.
Name ‘em.
Living in Charlotte, how does this impact me not being able to watch any Mets games when they play the Reds, Nationals, Orioles or Braves when we don’t live anywhere within 200+ miles of Atlanta, and 500 miles of the other 3 teams? I pay 100% of my money to miss 25% of the games
Charlotte is in-market only for the Atlanta Braves, not for the other 3 ballclubs. And Charlotte’s legacy TV provider Spectrum no longer carries MASN.
That’s where the blackout zones are illogical.
Welcome to MLB.TV We love our fans!!!!
I thought we were done with ESPN and baseball, but I guess I was wrong. I have hated ESPN for 5 years. The network no longer consist of talking about sports. ESPN is just like any local network with their soap operas.. When they do talk about sports. 90% of the time is NFL and Caitlyn Clark.
And nonsense NBA topics.
ESPN, I guess this means more Yankees/Red Sox games and what LeBron thinks..
ESPN only had 3 Yankees-Red Sox games scheduled this summer. The 4th was off-limits as the BoSox had to leave to begin a road trip in Seattle.
My days of watching Live baseball are pretty much gone. The only time I ever watch a live game is when I’m at my sister’s house, as she can afford to pay for all of these streaming services. I just don’t have it in my budget. What I do is Listen to it when I’m driving around in my car, or, watch somebody on YouTube doing play-by-play while they are watching the game. Kind of like a live stream. And then, I watched the highlights afterwards on YouTube. At least the NFL doesn’t gouge their fans. For the NFL season, I get streaming live cable, as all of my teams games will be played on basic cable.
I cant imagine how ESPN doesnt hinder the progress the game and league has made reaching out to new fans. I cant imagine how ESPN doesnt lessen my interest in even my own successful team. ESPN has a way of screwing this all up.
Not everyone is a generalized sports fan who can benefit from ESPN. I’m not interested in anything but baseball. I’ve been subscribing to MLB.TV since it began, but if they think I’m going to pay double to add ESPN… then they’ve severely overestimated my disposable income. Guess I’ll watch Bananaball next year.
I am not paying $299 for an app I don’t want, just so I can buy the MLB package. I am an old geezer who only watches baseball now.
I’m a 81 game season ticket holder for over 10 years now. I get the MLB.tv package for free as a perk of membership. It will be interesting to see if my situation is affected by this at all.
As everyone has said ESPN blows, but now I wonder how diluted mlb.tv will be next year, if T-Mobile even offers it for free next season. It’s looking like I’ll be sailing the seven seas next season…
Ugh. I hate everything about ESPN. If it weren’t forcibly chained to my satellite subscription, I’d have cancelled them years ago. I am very satisfied with MLB.TV, except, maybe, the cost since I only watch about 20-30 games a year, but I guarantee you– if ESPN takes over MLB, I’ll cancel –especially if it requires $30/month. F dash dash dash ESPN….. And this split broadcasters plan makes it even worse. MLB is a industry worth BILLIONS. How much more do those greedy bass,tireds want?
How would this affect the MLB Extra Innings package through DirecTV? Would I still be able to watch Padres games on it?
thank goodness for streameast…