ESPN, MLB complete $5.6 billion rights deal
ESPN is on the verge of an eight-year rights deal with Major League Baseball worth $5.6 billion that includes the rights to "Sunday Night Baseball," nationally televised games Monday and Wednesday nights and one wild-card playoff game.
The contract adds the rights to digital, international and radio in addition to domestic television rights for which ESPN had paid $306 million annually. The average of the current deal is $700 million per year.
MLB announced the annual rights fee will increase by 100 percent over its current deals, marking a new all-time record for a baseball rights agreement.
"The deal grants ESPN, which first began televising Major League Baseball games in 1990, a significant increase in studio and game content, including the right to broadcast up to 90 regular season MLB games per year across the ESPN networks beginning in 2014 and running through the 2021 season," the release said.
ESPN currently doesn't have rights to MLB playoffs, but will again in 2014. ESPN will alternate airing the American League and National League wild-card games. Also in 2014, ESPN will have rights to all potential regular-season tiebreaker games.
Sports Business Daily reported earlier Tuesday that ESPN networks plan to increase the number of games it showcases MLB's most popular teams, including the Yankees and Red Sox.
Major League Baseball said ESPN is committed to televise all 30 teams at least once per season in a live game telecast.
