Tigers Announce Launch Of Detroit SportsNet
The Tigers announced the launch of Detroit SportsNet, an entity which will broadcast the club’s games this year as well as those of the NHL’s Red Wings starting with the 2026-27 season. Fans can subscribe for $19.99 per month or $189.99 for an entire year, which would allow them to stream both clubs. The games will also be on television in some form but full cable/satellite details aren’t yet available.
Up until recently, the Tigers were one of many MLB clubs to have a deal with Main Street Sports, previously known as Diamond Sports Group. That company, which operated the FanDuel Sports Network channels in 2025, has been going through tough financial times in recent years. They recently missed some payments to some MLB clubs. The nine teams who still had deals with the company, one of which was the Tigers, terminated their deals in January.
Of those nine, six of them quickly pivoted to having Major League Baseball handling their broadcasts. The Tigers, Angels and Braves were the three left up in the air. Atlanta recently launched their own regional sports network (RSN) called BravesVision.
On the surface, this appears to be the Tigers essentially going the MLB route. The club announcement today says that Detroit SportsNet will be “Powered by MLB.” Customers will be able to stream games through the MLB app. The one element that seems to make this a bit more unique is that the Red Wings are involved, a logical pairing since the Ilitch family owns both clubs.
Down the line, it will be interesting to see if this leads to a significant difference in the revenue brought in. Several teams have ended up with MLB after the collapse of an RSN deal. This route can sometimes lead to more viewers as it allows clubs to offer direct-to-customer streaming with no blackouts, but it can also lead to less revenue overall. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com reports that teams in this bucket get about 50% less than before, on average. As of a few years ago, the Tigers were getting about $60MM from their RSN deal. Having the Red Wings and Tigers in the same package could lead to more subscribers but the revenues will also presumably be split.
The Tigers have had a few notable financial developments this winter. In addition to this RSN situation, they also saw Tarik Skubal file an arbitration number far higher than anyone expected. He ended up winning his hearing and will make $32MM this year, $13MM more than the club’s $19MM filing figure.
Despite the uncertainty of the RSN situation and Skubal’s big raise, the team still spent aggressively this winter. They signed a number of free agents, most notably giving a $115MM guarantee to left-hander Framber Valdez. They are projected to set a new franchise record in terms of payroll and the competitive balance tax.
The broadcasts will seemingly be fairly unchanged compared to previous seasons, with the on-air talent expected to return. Details on the specific television channels carrying the games will be revealed in the future. It’s not yet clear which app will be used to access Red Wings games.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Braves Announce Creation Of BravesVision
The Braves today announced the launch of BravesVision, a team-owned media entity which will broadcast the club’s games and make them available on television and via streaming. Fans will be able to deal directly with the team to access the broadcasts with no local blackouts. This will include all regular season games except those which are subject to national exclusivities. For those with questions about the details, the club released an FAQ page.
Up until recently, Atlanta was one of several teams with a regional sports network (RSN) deal with Main Street Sports, formerly known as Diamond Sports Group. That company’s portfolio of MLB clubs has been shrinking in recent years as they have hit financial trouble, largely caused by cord cutting. As of the start of this year, Main Street still had deals with nine MLB clubs, including Atlanta. The company missed some payments, which caused all nine teams to terminate their deals in January.
Earlier this month, six of those teams pivoted to having the league handle the broadcasts. Atlanta was one of the three still undetermined, but with some signs they would launch their own broadcast network, which has effectively come to pass with this announcement.
It’s difficult to say how this will impact the club’s bottom line in the long run. As of a few years ago, Atlanta was getting more than $100MM annually from their RSN deal. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com has reported that clubs who have lost their RSN deals and pivoted to new arrangements have been bringing in about 50% less than before, on average.
Atlanta is going a slightly different route than most of the other clubs in this position. The majority of them have handed the reins over to the league. The Rangers have been an exception, as they launched their own network a year ago, with Atlanta now following in that example. Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News spoke to some team officials about the situation in October. Those employees spoke highly of the increased ratings of the new arrangement but were more cagey about whether the club made as much money as they had on their previous RSN deal.
Down the line, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has a goal of marketing a streaming package that includes the rights of as many clubs as possible. It will be challenging to get them all on board since many of the large-market clubs have healthy RSN setups that they own or co-own. They will have some reticence about joining a more centralized arrangement that would see them sharing TV revenue with smaller markets.
For fans, today’s news seems to largely be a positive. Due to a dispute in 2024, there were times where the club’s games weren’t even available to some cable subscribers in the local area. Now the majority of the club’s games should be accessible to fans everywhere.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
MLB To Take Over Broadcasts For Six Additional Teams
4:37pm: Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reports that the Tigers, Angels and Braves are all moving on from Main Street Sports as well. Friend writes that it’s likely that the Detroit and Los Angeles clubs will also turn their broadcasts over to MLB, although they haven’t closed the door on working out some kind of independent streaming deal on a different platform than MLB.tv.
Friend’s reporting is most interesting regarding the Braves. He writes that the team could launch its own network rather than turning distribution to the league. The Rangers went that route when their deal with Diamond collapsed last offseason. The Texas franchise created its own network that negotiated directly with distributors to set up cable, satellite and streaming deals on different platforms.
The Braves haven’t made anything official, though they’ve more or less confirmed they won’t be returning to Main Street. “The Atlanta Braves are aware of the reports regarding Main Street Sports Group,” the team said in a statement. “While disappointed with this development, we have been actively preparing for this outcome and are well on our way towards launching a new era in Braves broadcasting. … We look forward to sharing our path forward in the coming weeks.”
1:10pm: Major League Baseball will take over the broadcasts of six new teams in 2026, reports John Ourand of Puck. The six clubs are the Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals, Cardinals and Reds. That represents six of the nine clubs who terminated deals with Main Street Sports last month. That leaves the Braves, Tigers and Angels as the three clubs from that group of nine who still need to formalize broadcast plans for this year.
The company has seemingly been hanging by a thread for a long time. Cord cutting and streaming have been eroding the regional sports network (RSN) model for years. Previously known as Diamond Sports Group and operating under the Bally Sports logo, the company was in bankruptcy for most of 2023 and 2024. When they emerged from bankruptcy late in 2024, they changed the company name and switched to the FanDuel Sports branding. More trouble emerged recently as they reportedly missed payments to several teams, which is what prompted the nine teams to walk away last month.
In recent years, MLB has handled the broadcasts of several other clubs who saw RSN deals collapse. The Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians were with the league in 2025. In those instances, the league largely kept TV broadcasts the same, retaining most of the personnel. For fans, this arrangement worked better as it did not involve local blackouts. Customers without cable packages could buy streaming packages directly from the league.
For teams, this expanded viewership but the financial situation wasn’t as good. Instead of a guaranteed fee from the RSN, they instead got a fungible amount of money based on streaming numbers. Clear numbers haven’t been made available but the industry consensus is that teams bring in less money via this model than they did via the previous RSN system. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com says the new model only brings in about 50% of the previous RSN set-up.
This often has on-field implications. Some of those teams, particularly the Padres and Twins, saw their player payrolls decrease in recent years. The lower spending capacity seemingly had an impact on Juan Soto being traded from the Padres to the Yankees a couple of years ago and Carlos Correa getting traded from the Twins to the Astros last summer, among other moves.
It was reported in September that ESPN would be acquiring the local rights for those five teams for the next three years. It’s unclear how that will impact local customers who have been paying the league directly to stream games. Also in September, it was reported that the Mariners would also be moving to the league. Last month, the Nationals announced that they would be moving to the MLB model.
Assuming the league will still be selling streaming packages for the five teams it was handling last year, then the league will have at least 13 teams in its portfolio in the coming season. With three clubs still outstanding, it’s possible MLB could get to more than half the league.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has previously spoken of his desire to market a streaming package like MLB.TV but without local blackouts. Controlling the rights for roughly half the league will make that more viable. Expanding the portfolio even further will be challenging. Most of the larger-market clubs still have pretty healthy RSN situations and would have less interest in jumping into a pooled system with these clubs.
That is part of a broader league strategy that will come into play in the next few years. A large number of the league’s broadcast deals expire after 2028. Manfred’s hope is to maintain as much flexibility as possible until then, at which point he could try to sell companies packages of combined rights. As an example of how this might play out, ESPN’s deal recently fell apart but then MLB pivoted to split it up and sell it to various companies. ESPN bought back some bits and acquired some new ones, while Netflix and NBC/Peacock acquired other components.
It will take a few years to see how that all plays out. In the shorter term, it could impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires December 1st of this year. Presumably, MLB doesn’t want those talks to lead to canceled games in 2027. Ratings and attendance have been up lately, with the faster pace of the pitch clock a possible explanation. Missed games due to a lockout would hurt that momentum, which wouldn’t help the league in selling rights the following year.
For fans of the teams involved in today’s news, new information about broadcast options should be forthcoming. The Cardinals already announced their streaming prices, which are $19.99 monthly or $99.99 for the full season. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald outlined the situation for Marlins fans today, with some more details still to be determined.
This could also impact player payroll for some clubs. Though the streaming model is a less certain source of revenue, these teams now at least have some clarity on what kind of money should be coming in this year. As of less than two weeks ago, the Reds were reportedly interested in players like Eugenio Suárez but reluctant to make more moves until they figured out the broadcast puzzle. They reportedly reached an agreement with Suárez yesterday.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Nationals Depart MASN, Turn Broadcasts To MLB
The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’re stepping away from their local broadcasting deal with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Major League Baseball will handle in-market distribution via streaming on the league’s MLB.tv platform and through yet to be announced cable/satellite partnerships. Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post and Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com were among those to cover the news.
“Today’s announcement represents a new chapter for Washington Nationals baseball,” owner Mark Lerner said in a press release. “Partnering with MLB offers us several new opportunities that will greatly improve the on-air product, including technological enhancements, the ability to work more closely with our broadcasters, and create added opportunities for our valued corporate partners.”
It officially concludes a fraught relationship with MASN, the network which had been jointly owned by the Nationals and Orioles since the former relocated to D.C. in 2005. Those two decades were marred by disputes over rights fees. The Orioles held a majority stake in the network as a condition of the Nationals relocating into their geographic territory. The sides went to arbitration to resolve calculations over rights fees, and the uncertainty was reportedly a stumbling block in the Lerner family’s efforts to sell the Nationals in 2022. The enmity also kept the teams from making any trades with one another.
David Rubenstein purchased the Orioles from the Angelos family two years later. That allowed for a fresh start in negotiations that resulted in a deal last March resolving all past disputes and settling on fees for the 2025 season. The agreement provided that the Nats could explore other opportunities in ’26.
This comes as the RSN model continues its decline around the league. The Nationals are the seventh team to turn broadcasts over to MLB. The Diamondbacks, Padres, Twins, Guardians, Rockies and Mariners have also done so. Those clubs don’t have the certainty of fixed rights fees because their previous providers were unable to meet their contractual obligations. Most of those organizations had agreements with Main Street Sports, the corporation that operates the FanDuel Sports (formerly Bally Sports) Networks.
Main Street Sports is back in hot water. The company recently missed payments to the Marlins and Cardinals. That led all nine teams that had agreements with Main Street to pull out of their contracts last week. Main Street is seeking a buyer and has otherwise said it plans to shutter operations at the end of the NBA and NHL seasons, which would leave the nine MLB teams in limbo. Evan Drellich of The Athletic writes that Main Street is hoping to renegotiate three-year deals with MLB clubs that would run through the 2028 season. Those could involve a hybrid arrangement that includes some fixed fees and a revenue sharing agreement that responds to the broadcaster’s loss of profits as consumers continue to move away from cable.
Nine Teams Terminate Contracts With Main Street Sports
The nine MLB teams who had contracts with Main Street Sports have terminated those contracts with the company. It’s possible that some of them eventually work out new deals with the broadcaster, which operates channels under the FanDuel Sports Network banner. The teams are the Braves, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals and Rays. Talks between the company and the teams are ongoing. Various elements of this developing story were reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Alden González of ESPN, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
The issue is due to the poor financial state of the company. They have recently missed payments to several teams, including the Cardinals and Marlins, but possibly others. The nine teams have cut ties with the company for now to keep them away from potential bankruptcy proceedings and explore other options, but it’s possible some teams will eventually sign new pacts with the company. Main Street is trying to find a buyer, though the reporting indicates talks with DAZN have fizzled out. Fubo TV might have stepped into the bidding but there are conflicting reports about that.
This is just the latest chapter in a saga that goes back quite a while, with cord cutting and streaming having chipped away the regional sports network (RSN) model. The company was previously known as Diamond Sports Group with channels marketed as Bally Sports. Going into 2023, 14 MLB clubs and many teams in other sports leagues had RSN deals with the company. But trouble emerged early that year when the company missed some payments. They filed for bankruptcy in March of 2023.
The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2024 and then rebranded. Along the way, many of their deals with MLB clubs fell apart. In some cases, new deals were worked out. In other cases, the league took over broadcasting duties. The Rangers went a different route and launched their own RSN. Coming into 2026, Main Street has 29 deals with teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL.
The path of MLB handling the broadcasts will be available for all the clubs involved here. “No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday, per Blum.
The MLB path is largely inconsequential for fans. If anything, it’s a better arrangement. MLB still puts the games on cable. For cord-cutters, they have the option of streaming the club by paying the league directly, with no local blackouts.
For the teams, however, it’s not a great situation. RSN deals have been a big source of revenue over the years. The bankruptcy of Diamond/Main Street put many of them in a tough position. Renegotiating with the company meant accepting lower fees than they had been receiving on their previous deals. Going with MLB would allow them to potentially reach more fans but the revenue in that path is both lesser and not guaranteed, as the money is contingent on how many people sign up to stream.
MLB handled the broadcasts of five clubs in 2025: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians. It was reported in September that the Mariners would go down this route in 2026. This week’s reporting suggests the Nationals will likely leave MASN and join with the league as well.
In the cases of at least a few of these teams, the situation seems to had on-field implications by reducing the club’s spending capacity when it comes to player payroll. The Padres and Twins, for instance, have been trying to strike a delicate balance of staying in contention while having less to spend on players than the front office may have once anticipated.
That’s obviously a disadvantage compared to some big-market clubs, many of whom are co-owners in RSNs which are relatively healthy in larger population areas. In July of 2024, it was reported that the league and the MLB Players Association had agreed to redirect some competitive balance tax money to teams impacted by the television situation. This week’s reporting indicates that arrangement was for 2024 alone. There was no such deal in place for 2025 and there’s currently nothing lined up for 2026 either.
“The clubs have control over the timing,” Manfred said this week. “They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”
With this situation and other disruptive developments in terms of MLB’s broadcast landscape, the league’s preference has been to not sign any new contracts that go beyond the 2028 season. It has been reported that many of MLB’s broadcast deals expire after that season. Manfred hopes to put together a league-wide streaming service with no blackouts and/or have a big auction of rights to various games, with multiple broadcasters bidding against each other.
A mini version of this happened recently when MLB’s deal with ESPN fell apart. The league then split up ESPN’s previous package, selling some of it back to ESPN along with other elements. Netflix bought the rights to Opening Day, the Home Run Derby and some other special events. NBC/Peacock bought Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026 to 2028, as well as other events. ESPN acquired the local rights for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Guardians and Twins as part of their new deal.
All of this figures to hang over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season. Another lockout, like the one in 2021-22, is widely expected. Manfred has essentially admitted that one will occur by speaking positively about the lockout process.
Whether that lockout extends long enough to cancel games in 2027 remains to be seen. The players and the union are already concerned by a lack of spending from some clubs and the RSN situation will likely only exacerbate that. Some of the impacted clubs would likely welcome more revenue sharing but the bigger clubs wouldn’t be as keen on that. The owners are expected to push for a salary cap but the players are strongly opposed to that.
Manfred has made plenty of unpopular moves in his time as commissioner but he can currently point to a legacy that includes no games missed due to labor strife. Baseball’s popularity is also on the rise, despite the aforementioned TV disruption. Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched game around the world since 1991. The uptick in ratings and attendance has been attributed by many to recent rule changes, particularly the pitch clock.
Disrupting the 2027 season would impact that legacy and also cut into baseball’s recent surge, which would be inopportune timing with the aforementioned future broadcast plans. Manfred is signed through 2029 and does not plan to seek another term after that.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Brewers, Royals To Return To Main Street Sports
The Brewers announced that they have a new deal in place with Main Street Sports, the company that owns FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin. It’s unclear if it’s a one-year deal or a multi-year pact, but the Brewers will be back on the same channel in 2026. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com was among those to relay the news.
It’s presumably good news for the Brewers, or at least not bad news. The regional sports network (RSN) model has been crumbling in recent years, thanks to cord-cutting and the rise of streaming. Several clubs in the majors have seen their RSN deals collapse. Those clubs have been left to have Major League Baseball run their broadcasts in a direct-to-customer model. That can work out better for some fans, as they can avoid blackouts, but it leads to less revenue for teams.
The Royals are also re-upping with Main Street Sports, exercising their mutual option for the 2026 season. “There is nothing more important to us than connecting with and making our games available to our great fans,” Royals Chairman/CEO John Sherman said in a press release. “Our viewership is growing and continues to rank among the best in baseball, both through linear cable and streaming.”
The partnership with Main Street Sports has been an effective one. Royals games ranked No. 1 in primetime in the Kansas City area this past season, according to the release. “Our multi-platform strategy drove strong viewership growth last season, and we look forward to working together to expand their audience reach and drive fan engagement,” Sarah Tourville, Executive Vice President, Team Partnerships, FanDuel Sports Network, said in the release.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
MLB To Take Over Mariners’ Broadcasts In 2026
The Mariners are planning to shutter Root Sports at the end of 2025, with Major League Baseball to take over the club’s broadcasts in 2026. Details of the club announcement were relayed by Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times.
“We continue to focus on finding new ways to bring our games in 2026 and beyond to our fans and we’ve determined joining with Major League Baseball is the best path,” reads a team statement, relayed by Divish. “Beginning in 2026 and moving forward, Major League Baseball will provide opportunities to bring new features and benefits to viewers of Mariners baseball. We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and excellence demonstrated by the Root Sports staff over the (nearly) four decades they have televised our games.” Jude relays that dozens of Root employees have been informed that they will be laid off on November 3rd but the broadcast team is expected to remain largely the same.
Regional sports networks (RSNs) have become an increasingly important part of baseball discussions in recent years. For a time, RSN deals were a reliable source of millions of dollars for teams. But cord cutting has led to a collapse of the RSN model, though not for all teams. Broadly speaking, the bigger teams like the Yankees and Dodgers are still in fine shape. Most large market clubs own their RSNs, in whole or in part, and still do quite well.
The Mariners tried to go down this road. In the 2023-2024 offseason, they took 100% control of Root Sports. They had previously owned 71% of the company but assumed the remaining 29% from Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel also carried the broadcasts of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. They also carried the NBA’s Utah Jazz in some markets and some college basketball games involving schools in the Pacific Northwest.
Two years later, it seems the M’s have decided to go under the MLB umbrella. They won’t be the first. MLB took over the broadcasts of the Padres, Diamondbacks and Rockies in 2024 as those clubs saw their RSN deals collapse. The Twins and Guardians joined that list in 2025.
With those arrangements, fans who watched on traditional television setups were largely unaffected. The games are still on television with the personnel mostly unchanged. The setup also opened the possibility for fans to pay for a blackout-free streaming package, ordered directly from MLB.
For the club, it’s generally agreed that these arrangements are less lucrative than the previous RSN contracts. For the Mariners, they may be sacrificing some gross revenue but they are saving lots of money by getting rid of the costs of operating Root. It’s difficult to get a read on the full financial picture from the outside but the Mariners presumably feel this is a better arrangement for them. That may impact the club’s player payroll this winter, though further reporting should shed more light on that over time.
It was reported last month that ESPN had struck a deal with MLB, acquiring various elements for 2026 and beyond, including the in-market rights of the five clubs currently handled by MLB. It’s unclear how that will change things going forward. ESPN is launching a streaming service, so fans in those markets may have to deal with that company instead of MLB. With the MLB now taking on Seattle’s rights, it’s unclear if MLB will pivot and include them in that ESPN deal.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is hoping to acquire the rights to all 30 clubs by the end of the 2028 season. MLB’s various national deals with companies like Fox and Turner all expire after that season. The same is true of other pacts with companies like Netflix and NBC/Peacock. Going into 2029, it’s theoretically possible that Manfred could market almost all MLB broadcast rights in one mega package, or split them up into smaller packages to be sold to multiple companies. Whether he can pull that off remains to be seen but this news pries loose one more club.
Photo courtesy of John Froschauer, Imagn Images
Netflix To Carry Opening Night, Home Run Derby Broadcasts In 2026
Netflix will have exclusive streaming coverage of next season’s Opening Night matchup between the Yankees and Giants, reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Those teams will kick off the season with a standalone game at Oracle Park on Wednesday, March 25. Everyone else’s season will begin the following day, aligning with MLB’s usual practice of opening on the final Thursday in March.
That’s not the only significant get for Netflix. Marchand reports that the streaming corporation will also get the Home Run Derby for the next three seasons and share broadcasts of a few special location games (e.g. Field of Dreams, Rickwood Field) with NBC. Netflix and MLB are signing a three-year deal which Marchand reports will pay the league roughly $225-250MM annually.
Opening Night and the Home Run Derby were previously part of MLB’s long-running deal with ESPN. That collapsed in February when both sides opted out of the contract for the 2026-28 seasons. ESPN sought to renegotiate at a lesser rights fee. MLB instead partitioned the package — which included the Derby, Sunday Night Baseball, and the Wild Card round — and has hammered out a few smaller deals with different companies.
Marchand reported last month that Netflix was making a bid for the Derby, and they’ve apparently reached that agreement. He adds today that NBC and its streaming service Peacock will pick up Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026-28. (ESPN will still have next week’s first round as part of the final season of the previous agreement.) NBC is also expected to pay around $225-250MM per season on a three-year contract.
There’ll also be a change to the regular season games on Sunday mornings. Roku has carried those since early 2024. Rob Tornoe of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last month that NBC, which had carried those games on Peacock from 2022-23, would reacquire those rights. Roku’s deal ran through the end of 2026. It’s not clear if Peacock will pick those broadcasts up a year early or wait until the ’27 season.
ESPN will also remain a partner of the league on a much bigger deal. Marchand reported in August that the broadcaster was nearing agreement with MLB to license the rights to teams’ out-of-market games, which have been part of the MLB.tv package. ESPN also gets in-market rights for the Rockies, Twins, Diamondbacks, Padres and Guardians — the five clubs whose broadcasts have been handled by the league since their regional TV deals collapsed. ESPN also gets 30 exclusive national games to replace what it lost on Sunday nights; those games will now be on weekdays.
That’s also a three-year arrangement. Marchand reports that ESPN will pay the league $1.65 billion in total — matching the $550MM annual sum it would have paid for Sunday nights, the Derby, and the Wild Card round had it not opted out.
It’s not a coincidence that all these deals run through 2028. MLB’s preexisting contracts with Fox (which carries the World Series, the ALCS, the ALDS, and the All-Star Game) and Turner (which has the NLDS and NLCS) also expire at the end of the ’28 season. Commissioner Rob Manfred has expressed a desire to acquire the local in-market rights for every team by that point. That would give MLB the opportunity to shop virtually everything going into 2029.
MLB, ESPN Nearing Deal Involving MLB.TV And In-Market Rights For Five Clubs
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
Latest On Broadcast Package Carried By ESPN
Back in February, Major League Baseball and ESPN opted out of the final three years of their contract together. That deal is still in place through 2025, with ESPN carrying this year’s rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and the Wild Card round of the playoffs, but the rights for those events are up for grabs for the 2026-28 seasons. In May, it was reported that NBC had made an offer on that package.
Now it appears that the package may be split up and sold in separate parts, per Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Nothing is finalized yet but Marchand reports that the league is in negotiations with several different broadcasters about the pieces that ESPN is currently carrying. He says that NBC/Peacock and Apple TV+ are the frontrunners for Sunday Night Baseball and the playoff games, while Netflix seems likely to get the Derby. ESPN, meanwhile, could stay in the baseball broadcast business by picking up some weekday games. Marchand adds that ESPN has interest in MLB.TV but doesn’t indicate if that interest is reciprocal. John Ourand of Puck also reports that Netflix is hoping to acquire the Japanese rights for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Breaking up broadcast rights into pieces is nothing new for the league. They have had deals with many broadcasters over the years and currently have deals in place with ESPN, Fox, ABC, TBS, Apple and Roku. Peacock/NBC had the rights to the early Sunday game not too long ago, before Roku took over that slot.
MLB was set to receive about $550MM annually from the ESPN deal. ESPN was looking to renegotiate, pointing out that Apple is only playing $85MM for its Friday night rights while Roku is only forking over $10MM annually. The ESPN package has more appeal. Like Apple and Roku, they get one game per week, but there’s only one game on Sunday nights while Apple/Roku have competition from the other contests. The Derby and the playoff games obviously make the package more valuable. Still, ESPN didn’t feel the price gap was appropriate. Per the May reporting linked above, ESPN was willing to pay about $200MM per year but not more.
MLB evidently felt it could beat that $200MM and perhaps may do so by splitting up the package into pieces. Time will tell if they can succeed. As mentioned, these deals are still being negotiated and Marchand doesn’t provide any specifics about the numbers being discussed.
One thing that has been consistent in stories about broadcast deals is that MLB doesn’t want to sign anything beyond 2028. Multiple reports have indicated that the league’s various broadcast deals expire after the 2028 season. As various clubs saw their regional deals collapse with Diamond Sports Group, now known as Main Street Sports, some re-signed but always on short-term deals. It seems the league hopes to be able to market a very large package, or packages, of broadcast components to various companies for the 2029 season and beyond. Marchand reports that the current negotiations are consistent with that approach, with nothing beyond 2028 being discussed.
There are many moving parts and it’s a notable situation to monitor going forward. Broadcast revenue is naturally a huge part of the game’s economic landscape and there could be many twists and turns in the coming years. The baseball world is expecting a lockout in the 2026-27 offseason, once the current collective bargaining agreement expires. Many believe that commissioner Rob Manfred and the owners would like to push the MLB Players Association to get a salary cap. A staredown between the league and the union could lead to cancelled games in 2027.
Manfred and the owners would have to balance their desire for that cap against their leverage in these deals. MLB has seen an uptick in popularity lately, including increased viewership ratings, often attributed to pace-of-play rule changes such as the pitch clock. Having that momentum would help the league in negotiations with broadcasters but a lengthy work stoppage and missed games would almost certainly hurt baseball’s popularity and cut into the league’s leverage in broadcast negotiations.