Thursday’s announcement that Major League Baseball and ESPN “have mutually agreed to terminate their agreement after the 2025 season,” not only marks the end of a three-plus-decade television agreement — but the end of “Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio,” which has been in place since the start of the 1998 season.
Prior to that, CBS Radio was the league’s official, national radio broadcaster. The final game of the 1997 World Series was the last one broadcast by CBS Radio. ESPN Radio has been MLB’s exclusive radio partner for the last 27 years.
According to a report by Bloomberg, ESPN’s decision to exit a seven-year deal three years ahead of schedule will keep the cable giant from paying MLB $550 million per year to air 30 regular-season games, in addition to the Home Run Derby, the Wild Card playoff round and up to 10 Spring Training games, as well as the radio rights.
MLB says ESPN has cut back on baseball coverage “in a way that is not consistent with the sport’s appeal or performance on their platform.” The league has also groused that ESPN won’t accept less money. “ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable,” MLB said.
Sports Media Watch says that while ESPN Radio doesn’t attract the attention of its flagship TV counterpart, radio has had a presence at every World Series and MLB All-Star Game dating back to 1998. Jon Sciambi has called the past two World Series for ESPN Radio. Prior to that was a 12-year run by Dan Shulman and a 13-year stretch by Jon Miller.
“It is unlikely that MLB will be able to bundle the ESPN’s radio rights with the rest of the network’s package, as few if any of the likely contenders have any relevant presence in radio,” Sports Media Watch says. “Westwood One, which carries the Super Bowl and NCAA men’s basketball national championship, or SiriusXM — which carries NASCAR Cup Series races — would seem like potential landing spots.”
But is ESPN truly out of MLB’s picture for good? A statement released by the network suggests the network could still be interested — if, presumably, the price is right.
“We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball and proud of how ESPN’s coverage super-serves fans,” the statement says. “In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital and social platforms. As we have been throughout the process, we remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025.”
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