August 21, 20251 yr MLB, ESPN Nearing Deal Involving MLB.TV And In-Market Rights For Five Clubs - MLB Trade RumorsMajor League Baseball and ESPN are seemingly going to continue their relationship but with a new shape. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the league and the network have an agreement in place which would give ESPN the right to sell all out-of-market games digitally. These rights have previously been sold by the league to consumers as the MLB.TV package. Under the agreement, ESPN will also acquire the in-market rights for the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres, Rockies and Twins. ESPN would also have an exclusive weekly game similar to Sunday Night Baseball, but on a different night of the week. The deal is not yet finalized but could be signed in September. It’s unclear how much ESPN would pay the league for this package but Marchand says it will be “substantial”.
August 21, 20251 yr I was hoping Apple would get MLB TV but is what it is.As long as we can still quad-box for MLB TV we good.
August 22, 20251 yr https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/mlb-espn-nearing-deal-involving-mlb-tv-and-in-market-rights-for-five-clubs.htmlUfff looking like we’re possibly gonna be paying more to watch baseball next year. If I have to pay the ESPN subscription I’d rather never watch baseball again. Just on principle lol
August 22, 20251 yr Author 17 hours ago, Michael said:I was hoping Apple would get MLB TV but is what it is.As long as we can still quad-box for MLB TV we good.it's sounding like this may be a short-term deal through 2028.....after which, a lot of existing deals expire, and it's sounding like MLB wants to consolidate and sell a much larger access package to someone for mega bucks.16 hours ago, marlinsmaniac said:Wait so will MLBtv still exist?The way they worded it there, it sounds like you'd have to get an ESPN subscription for $29.99/month, AND a MLBTV purchase for $x per month
August 22, 20251 yr Just now, rmc523 said:it's sounding like this may be a short-term deal through 2028.....after which, a lot of existing deals expire, and it's sounding like MLB wants to consolidate and sell a much larger access package to someone for mega bucks.The way they worded it there, it sounds like you'd have to get an ESPN subscription for $29.99/month, AND a MLBTV purchase for $x per monthYeah looking like a major change on the horizon for MLBTV as we know it. And by change I mean price hike lol wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a monthly subscription for $30-$50 rather than the ~$160 yearly it is now.
August 22, 20251 yr Author 1 hour ago, marlinsmaniac said:Yeah looking like a major change on the horizon for MLBTV as we know it. And by change I mean price hike lol wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a monthly subscription for $30-$50 rather than the ~$160 yearly it is now.It also sounded like this deal involves out of market digital rights too for clubs with RSNs (the 5 clubs mentioned will include their in-market rights). I think in-market digital rights would still belong to the RSNs for the time being.
August 22, 20251 yr 2 minutes ago, rmc523 said:It also sounded like this deal involves out of market digital rights too for clubs with RSNs (the 5 clubs mentioned will include their in-market rights). I think in-market digital rights would still belong to the RSNs for the time being.Yeah but eventually RSN’s are gone. It’s only a matter of time and then we’re looking at that kind of thing. It’s gonna have to be the big companies like Netflix, Apple and Amazon. They pay for the eyes whether or not the operation itself directly makes or loses money as long as it drives stocks up lol
August 22, 20251 yr Author 28 minutes ago, marlinsmaniac said:Yeah but eventually RSN’s are gone. It’s only a matter of time and then we’re looking at that kind of thing. It’s gonna have to be the big companies like Netflix, Apple and Amazon. They pay for the eyes whether or not the operation itself directly makes or loses money as long as it drives stocks up lolCorrect. Which is why I mentioned above, the reporting is that this deal is only through 2028, after which MLB will be able to package most if not all rights for all the teams in one mega package.
August 23, 20251 yr 20 hours ago, rmc523 said:Correct. Which is why I mentioned above, the reporting is that this deal is only through 2028, after which MLB will be able to package most if not all rights for all the teams in one mega package.“Welcome to the 2029 season on Telemundo, Walter Mercado here with Don Francisco on this beautiful Sunday afternoon”
August 23, 20251 yr I just had the thought that probably sometime within the next 20 years I would not be surprised at all to see a complete AI broadcasting duo in the booth. Once the technology becomes so advanced that the ai can recognize every single nuiance of a baseball game. It’s probably already there as far as being advanced. But maybe a few more years before people will be ready for that. However I would still prefer human announcers although I would have to admit it would be an slight improvement over Rod Allen to have a computer voice that doesn’t always say slide piece or change piece after every pitch. 😂
August 24, 20251 yr 2 hours ago, SirFishFan said:I just had the thought that probably sometime within the next 20 years I would not be surprised at all to see a complete AI broadcasting duo in the booth. Once the technology becomes so advanced that the ai can recognize every single nuiance of a baseball game. It’s probably already there as far as being advanced. But maybe a few more years before people will be ready for that. However I would still prefer human announcers although I would have to admit it would be an slight improvement over Rod Allen to have a computer voice that doesn’t always say slide piece or change piece after every pitch. 😂plot twist: Rod Allen is actually AI.
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