ESPN’s coverage of Major League Baseball is headed to the bottom of the ninth.
The Walt Disney Co.-owned sports broadcasting giant and MLB on Thursday night separately announced an end to their long association after this year. The network and league had been in discussions to restructure the TV rights deal, but those talks collapsed this week.
ESPN asked MLB to accept a lower license fee because the broadcaster has been losing money on the $550-million-a-year deal. After talks broke down, ESPN triggered its opt-out clause to terminate the contract, which was due to expire in 2028.
The network said it would broadcast the 2025 season, as planned, then end its run after 36 seasons of Sunday night games. ESPN’s arrangement includes some spring training games, the Home Run Derby in July and the first round of the playoffs in October. The season begins next month.
MLB blasted ESPN’s attempt to reduce the license fee and said it would find a new TV or streaming partner.
“Given that MLB provides strong viewership, valuable demographics, and the exclusive right to cover unique events like the Home Run Derby, ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable,” the league said Thursday night in a statement.
Ratings for Sunday night games were up 6% last year, compared with 2023, according to MLB.
Read more: Can ESPN survive while cable TV dies?
The shift comes as networks absorb high costs of major sports rights at a time when cable channels such as ESPN are losing subscribers. Cord-cutting has led to a substantial decline in distribution fees that cable and satellite TV operators pay Disney to carry its channels.
Disney’s sports rights costs have also ballooned in recent years, particularly after the network agreed to cough up billions more to keep the NBA, including the championship finals, and the NFL.
“In making this decision [to drop baseball], 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,” ESPN said.
Baseball also faces cord-cutting challenges because most of its games run on regional sports networks, including many that are on life support.
Read more: Disney’s Bob Iger says ESPN is not for sale. Now the pressure is on
More than a…