ESPN and MLB Both Losers In Upcoming Divorce

On Thursday, ESPN informed MLB that it would opt out of the final three years of its $550 million annual rights agreement after this year, setting a breakup date ahead of the 2026 season.

READ MORE: ESPN WILL NO LONGER BROADCAST MLB GAMES

As in any divorce, outsiders have since tried to determine a winner. Ultimately, it could take a decade to learn who was better off without the other. But in the meantime, both sides look like losers.

ESPN opted out of the deal after deciding that its national rights package for MLB, which included Sunday Night Baseball and the first round of the playoffs, was no longer worth a $550 million annual fee. Speaking to sources within the industry, ESPN is right—sort of. Err, for now.

As The Athletic reported, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred devalued MLB’s national regular-season product by further fragmenting the national scheduling by selling newly created windows to streamers—from Amazon to Apple, from Peacock to Roku.

The issue is that ESPN will launch a direct-to-consumer platform called ESPN Flagship this summer, allowing streamers to view all of ESPN's live sporting events without a cable subscription. The service is weaker without Major League Baseball, the second-most popular professional sports league in America.

Sunday Night Baseball isn't Monday Night Football, but it eats up--no put intended--innings during the summer months when most other sports are in the off-season.

Without it, why would anyone subscribe to ESPN Flagship between July and September?  

Moreover, baseball experienced a bit of a moment this past season as Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers established themselves as bona fide national attractions, which the sport of baseball has lacked for much of the past