MLB, ESPN mutually parting ways on media rights deal after 2025 season: report

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ESPN and Major League Baseball (MLB) are mutually parting ways at the conclusion of the 2025 regular season, ending their media rights partnership. 

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred explained the reasoning behind the end of the partnership in a letter to league owners, per The Athletic. 

In the letter, Manfred noted that the league had "not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage."

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Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks during the 2024 MLB Draft presented by Nike at Cowtown Coliseum on Sunday, July 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

To that end, ESPN was set to pay the league an estimated $550 million in each of the next three years, which it felt was above current market value, per The Athletic.

With a March 1 deadline for both ESPN and MLB to opt out of the final three years on the deal, they both agreed to do so. 

"We do not think it’s beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform," Manfred wrote in the letter to owners. "In order to best position MLB to optimize our rights going in to our next deal cycle, we believe it is not prudent to devalue our rights with an existing partner but rather to have our marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform.

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"To that end, we have been in conversations with several interested parties