As ESPN-MLB deadline looms, reports suggest both sides willing to walk away

At the Major League Baseball owners' meetings earlier this month, commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters he and representatives from ESPN are continuing to negotiate on a contract that allows both parties to opt out in March.

If ESPN and MLB opt in, a partnership that began in 1990 will extend for three more seasons, from 2026 to 2028.

However, recent reports suggest pessimism that either side is interested in opting in, or even re-negotiating a new deal if one party opts out. Evan Drellich and Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, citing people briefed on the network’s thinking, reported that ESPN "has long been expected to opt out."

In the same report, Marchand and Drellich report "Major League Baseball is warning that it could walk away" from negotiations altogether if ESPN exercises its end of the opt-out.

John Ourand of Puck, speaking on the most recent episode of The Varsity podcast, suggested that's just fine by ESPN.

"Jimmy Pitaro is the head of ESPN, and under his leadership, ESPN has started taking a different approach to the rights landscape," Ourand said. "When ESPN wants a property, it will pay whatever it needs to to get it. ... but Pitaro has shown he is unsentimental about making these decisions. And if some prospective deals don't make business sense, he walks. Just ask the Pac-12, or Major League Soccer. He opted out of he Big Ten negotiations a few years ago. He just recently told F1 that while he likes his programming, they were seeking too big of an increase, and Pitaro told them he wasn't going to renew. So now he's having a staredown with baseball, and I'm dying to see how this one turns out.

Ourand reports that ESPN wants to pay a lower fee than its reported $550 million annual fee for the rights to televise 30 exclusive Sunday night games, as well as the Home Run Derby and the Wild Card playoff round.

"There's a risk if ESPN exercises that out, and that's because (Major League) baseball can start shopping it around," Ourand said.

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