Disney, MLB Agree On New ESPN Rights Deal

Walt Disney Co. announced a new seven-year agreement with Major League Baseball that will see the company pay less overall for fewer games.

Bloomberg reports the parent of ESPN will broadcast 30 regular-season games each season, 25 of them on Sunday nights, Disney said Thursday. Under a previous contract, the company had been airing 90 games, but most weren’t exclusive and could also be seen on competing local channels.

Disney will also get rights to some extras, including the annual Home Run Derby batting competition, and a new series of wild-card playoff games, should they continue. The Burbank, California-based company also negotiated rights to air the games on additional channels, such as its ABC broadcast network and its ESPN+ streaming service.

The deal is part of an overall strategy to couple long-term sports rights with the flexibility to create different shows for different audiences, such as a statistics-heavy presentation for subscribers of ESPN+.

“ESPN’s longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball has been a driver of innovation for three decades,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “This agreement solidifies baseball’s ubiquitous presence across ESPN platforms, including ESPN+.”

The company declined to comment on the cost of the contract. The sports news site the Athletic reported earlier this year that Disney could be paying as much as $150 million a year less for the package. It previously had an eight-year deal worth $5.8 billion.

ESPN has been on a sports-rights renewal run recently, signing long-term deals with the National Football League, the National Hockey League and college’s Southeastern Conference. While the company paid more for the NFL rights, it got extra content, including some Super Bowls, while seeing less of an increase in fees than rival broadcasters.