Baseball fans are rightfully questioning ESPN’s commitment to the sport on Sunday.
The network, somewhat inexplicably, opted to finish airing a cornhole match rather than showing the MLB All-Star Selection Show.
The start of the MLB All-Star Selection Show was delayed for nearly 10 minutes on ESPN due to… cornhole. #MLB pic.twitter.com/2q9feBzKGI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 6, 2025
The selection show, which was slated to begin at 5 p.m. ET, was preempted by professional cornhole for approximately ten minutes. While that’s not entirely unprecedented — live sports overruns impact programming all the time — the fact that it was cornhole pushing back an MLB show caught fans’ attention.
ESPN delaying MLB All-Star announcements because of cornhole is really…….. something.
— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) July 6, 2025
“ESPN delaying MLB All-Star announcements because of cornhole is really…….. something,” Boston Globe Red Sox reporter Gabrielle Starr posted on social media.
ESPN is bumping/delaying the MLB All Star Selection Show for Cornhole??????????
You can not hate @espn enough— Ray Moffo (@RayMoffo) July 6, 2025
ESPN playing Cornhole over the MLB All-Star Selection Show.
Get the TV rights away from this godforsaken company immediately, man.
— Reds in Four (@RedsInFour) July 6, 2025
The decision to stay with cornhole is likely drawing more attention given the icy relationship between MLB and ESPN at this moment. Earlier this year, ESPN decided to exercise its option to exit its media rights agreement with MLB, leaving the league with a $550 million hole to fill next season. That relationship might be warming a bit, with recent reports indicating the two sides are in “early stages” of negotiating a new deal that would see ESPN carry some of that package forward next season.
However, decisions like the one made Sunday evening give MLB reason for pause. In the league’s initial response to ESPN’s opt-out, MLB criticized the network’s seeming lack of commitment to the sport. Airing cornhole instead of an All-Star selection special lends credence to that theory, whether it’s true in practice or not.
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.