ESPN negotiating with new partner for MLB package: report

ESPN and Major League Baseball recently opted out of the final three years of their contract, potentially ending a 35-year run of live MLB games on ESPN after the 2025 season.

For all the elegies spoken and written in the days that followed, there could be another means for the network to broadcast MLB games in the future. According to the Wall Street Journal, ESPN and Main Street Sports Group — the entity formerly known as Diamond Sports Group — have discussed potentially bundling its streaming offering with ESPN’s flagship direct-to-consumer service, which is scheduled to launch this year.

Writes Jared Diamond and Isabella Simonetti: "such a partnership would represent a way for ESPN to offer baseball without making hefty rights payments and still earn additional revenue from the bundle."

Before opting out, ESPN was set to pay $550 million a year from 2026 to 2028 for its existing package, which includes Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and the Wild Card round of the postseason. The network apparently felt that package was overpriced.

"In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN's industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital and social platforms," chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. "As we have been throughout the process, we remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025."

The Main Street portfolio of local sports rights currently includes the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, and Milwaukee Brewers.

Main Street previously agreed with Amazon on a deal to make its local channels available through Prime Video as an add-on subscription. For $19.99 a month, fans in FanDuel Sports Network markets will have access to local teams' live MLB, NHL and NBA games.

Commissioner Rob Manfred has been open about his long-term vision for negotiating a national streaming package of MLB games. He recently told team owners in a letter (obtained by The Athletic) that "we have been in conversations with several interested parties around these rights over the past several months and expect to have at least two potential options for consideration over the next few weeks.”

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