After weeks of anticipation, it seems that Major League Baseball is reportedly closing in on its new-look media rights deals resulting from ESPN\u2019s decision to exit its current contract after this season.<\/p>\n
According to a report by Kendall Baker of Yahoo Sports, MLB is \u201cclose to being done\u201d its new set of media rights deals that are expected to go through 2028, when the league\u2019s national broadcast agreements expire with Fox and TNT Sports. Per Baker, Apple is completely exiting its current deal for Friday Night Baseball, making way for NBC and Peacock to pickup the Friday inventory in addition to\u00a0Sunday Night Baseball\u00a0and the Wild Card games that ESPN opted out of.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udea8 SCOOP: MLB rights deals are \u201cclose to being done,\u201d per sources.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m hearing:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Apple is fully out. RIP Friday Night Baseball<\/p>\n
\u2013 NBC\/Peacock is in, for Friday and Sunday exclusive and Wild Card<\/p>\n
\u2013 MLB TV being sold to ESPN (for a boatload of $$$)<\/p>\n
\u2013 Netflix gets HR Derby<\/p>\n
\u2014 Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) August 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n However, ESPN isn\u2019t getting out of the baseball business entirely. According to Baker, the Worldwide Leader will purchase MLB.tv, the league\u2019s out-of-market streaming service, presumably to complement its soon-to-launch streaming service. ESPN has indicated its intention to remain involved in MLB<\/a>, preferably through some sort of local rights agreement, and this acquisition fits the bill.<\/p>\n