Contenders are beginning to separate themselves in the battle to claim ESPN’s leftover MLB rights.
According to a report by Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, Apple TV is a “leading candidate” to pick up some of the MLB rights being relinquished by ESPN following this season. Earlier this year, the Worldwide Leader opted out of its current deal with MLB, which included Sunday Night Baseball, some early-round playoff games, and the Home Run Derby.
Per Karp, the package that Apple is eyeing is “not necessarily” the same package of games that NBC is reportedly eyeing. Last month, NBC emerged as a serious contender for the Sunday Night Baseball package as it would complete a year-round cycle of live sports on Sunday nights for the network. NBC currently airs Sunday Night Football, and will begin a Sunday Night Basketball package next NBA season.
Apple is reportedly considering more inventory than what NBC would want, according to SBJ. A potential deal would likely be three years in length, allowing MLB to go to market with its full suite of game inventory in 2028 when its other national broadcast deals with Fox and TNT Sports expire.
Karp stresses that no official decisions have been made yet.
MLB may split up the package currently held by ESPN in an attempt to maximize both reach, potentially with a broadcast network like NBC, and revenue, potentially with a deep-pocketed streamer like Apple.
Still, recovering the $550 million average annual fee paid by ESPN will be a challenge, though not impossible, if the league goes to market with multiple partners and potentially adds some sweeteners.
