{"id":102495,"date":"2025-08-22T19:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/102495\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T19:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:12:07","slug":"mlb-closes-in-on-new-media-rights-deals-with-espn-nbc-and-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/102495\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB closes in on new media rights deals with ESPN, NBC and Netflix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overall view of Truist Park in the fifth inning during game two of a double header between the Atlanta Braves and the Miami Marlins on August 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. <\/p>\n

Matthew Grimes Jr. | Atlanta Braves | Getty Images<\/p>\n

Major League Baseball is nearing a finalized agreement with Disney<\/a>‘s ESPN, Comcast<\/a>‘s NBC Sports and Netflix<\/a> on a new three-year media rights deals for packages of live games.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, ESPN opted out<\/a> of its $550 million-per-year deal for Sunday Night Baseball. That package will be split into two parts for 2026-2028, if a deal closes. An agreement hasn’t yet been finalized and may still fall apart.<\/p>\n

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Under the terms currently being discussed, NBC would acquire all of the league’s Sunday games and Wild Card playoff games for about $200 million per year, according to people familiar with the matter. Netflix will get the rights to the Home Run Derby for about $50 million a year, according to two people familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n

ESPN is getting a brand new package of rights for $550 million, according to people familiar with the matter. ESPN has roughly assigned about $450 million in value to license MLB TV, the league’s digital out-of-market package of games. <\/p>\n

ESPN is also acquiring in-market games to five local teams \u2014 the Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies \u2014 and will get a new mid-week package of national games. All of the agreements end after the 2028 season.<\/p>\n

MLB, NBC, ESPN and Netflix all declined to comment on the deal.<\/p>\n

Under a three-year deal, MLB would be able to reorganize its media rights after the 2028 season.<\/p>\n

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent a memo to the league’s teams in February saying that ESPN had asked the league to “reduce the amount (ESPN) pay for MLB content over the remainder of the term.”<\/p>\n

“We do not think it’s beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform,” Manfred\u00a0wrote to MLB owners<\/a>\u00a0in the memo first obtained by The Athletic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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