As of now, it appears that 2025 will be the last season that Major League Baseball games will be broadcast on ESPN. Last week it was reported that both sides exercised their options to leave their contract after this season, meaning that weekly programming like “Sunday Night Baseball,” playoff games, and more will be disappearing from ESPN airwaves once this year is over. New reporting from John Ourand at Puck News reveals that the breakup might not have been as consensual as was initially believed, and that ESPN is still open to negotiating a new deal with MLB. However, the league might have already decided to move on after losing its longtime broadcast partner.

Key Details:

• ESPN wanted to continue its deal with MLB, but also wanted additional programming for the same price.
• MLB wouldn’t accept a deal with ESPN that paid the same amount or less.
• The league wants to position itself for 2028 when all of its national rights will be available.

According to Ourand, ESPN wanted to continue its relationship with MLB, but was reluctant to pay more than the $550 million per season it currently lays out for its package. The sports network either wanted to pay less for the content it currently has the rights to, or add new rights — such as local rights that would be included on its new Flagship streaming service — at the same rate.

MLB held firm on its position that it couldn’t allow ESPN to pay less for its rights, nor would it give the network more content for the same price. After watching ESPN shell out big bucks for NBA and NFL rights, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred felt he couldn’t go back to the owners with a deal on ESPN’s terms. If ESPN wanted to get its hands on local MLB rights for Flagship — something ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro has spoken publicly about before — it had to negotiate those rights with the league in a separate deal.

That led to initial reporting that both sides were considering exercising a clause in their existing contract that allows them to opt out following the 2025 season. Despite that, Ourand reports that ESPN would still be open to making a new deal with Major League Baseball. However, the league is “hellbent” on getting more national outlets involved in bidding for its games in 2028.

That’s the year that MLB’s other national rights deals with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery end, which means that if it can find a partner to take over ESPN’s package of games until then, it can auction off all of its national rights at the same time, something that worked very well for the NBA last year. That could mean a big boost in revenue for the league overall, but it is a risk. However, the league appears to be embracing the future of sports rights as it has been talking to Netflix and Prime Video about such a deal. Conversations have also been held with Skydance, which is set to merge with Paramount in the coming months, and NBC is reportedly interested as well.

Manfred is reportedly willing to take a lower rights fee payment in exchange for the flexibility to get the now-available package of rights back in 2028, just not from ESPN. Now, the league will have to shop around and see if it can find a new partner for those rights; if not, it may have to go back to ESPN and try to renegotiate.