In a move that dramatically shakes up the sports TV landscape, ESPN and Major League Baseball have decided to part ways after the upcoming MLB season, ending a 35-year relationship between the sports TV giant and league, and bringing some prime sports rights to the market. “We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN’s coverage super-serves fans,” an ESPN spokesperson tells The Hollywood Reporter. “In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live...

Disney‘s ESPN and Major League Baseball are breaking up after nearly 40 years together, a sign of how even the most durable content relationships have come under scrutiny in the streaming era, with sports rights increasing and entertainment conglomerates left to figure out how to pay the bill. “We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN’s coverage super-serves fans,” ESPN said in a statement Thursday evening. “In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s...

Major League Baseball and ESPN have “mutually agreed” to end their national television deal after the upcoming 2025 season, according to a memo baseball commissioner Rob Manfred sent to his owners Thursday afternoon that was obtained by The Athletic. Manfred wrote the league has “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.” ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, its wild-card round playoff broadcasts and the rest of the partnership remain in place through the...