One day after reports emerged that NBC has made a bid for the MLB rights being abandoned by ESPN after this season, it now appears more media companies are in the mix.
According to John Ourand of Puck, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has held talks with Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Apple about the inventory now available after ESPN decided to exit its media rights deal with the league. Per Ourand, the talks with Apple have been “the most extensive among the streamers, largely on account of their relationship for Friday Night Baseball.”
Notably, Ourand also reports that MLB and ESPN have not engaged in a renegotiation, despite ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro indicating the network would still be interested in a package, just at the right price.
And price, at the end of the day, will be the most important factor in MLB’s decision on which media company (or companies) to sell to. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that, while NBC has submitted a bid that would see the network earn the rights to Sunday Night Baseball, it was for significantly less than the $550 million ESPN pays annually for its package.
Ourand suggests that MLB will need to weigh NBC’s reach versus Apple’s (or another streamer’s) cash. It’s certainly possible that the league will decide to split ESPN’s rights between multiple partners, trying to capitalize on both the reach of broadcast and the potentially more lucrative deals a streamer can provide.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.