ESPN has aired the Home Run Derby for 30 years. In 2025, that streak ends at 31.
Major League Baseball and ESPN have had a not-so-amicable split, and despite the possibility of a reconciliation, the league is already looking elsewhere. With ESPN opting out, MLB is in discussions with Netflix, Amazon, and NBC about its next media rights deal.
Ironically, ESPN didn’t want to part ways with baseball.
According to Puck’s John Ourand, the network was actually interested in expanding its coverage, including the return of midweek broadcasts and access to local streaming rights. However, Commissioner Rob Manfred rejected these proposals unless ESPN was willing to increase its annual payment of $550 million.
The network declined, and now MLB is shopping its high-profile events.
Sunday Night Baseball isn’t a natural fit for streamers like Netflix, which prioritizes major tentpole events over regular season games that can get lost in the shuffle. But marquee events — the Wild Card round and the Home Run Derby — are a different story. Netflix could be in the mix but won’t be without competition.
One potential landing spot? Fox.
On The Marchand Sports Media Podcast, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand speculated that MLB could divide up ESPN’s former rights, with Fox emerging as a logical destination for the Home Run Derby.
“So, what I think could happen is that they carve up what ESPN had,” Marchand said. “So, ESPN had regular season Sunday Night Baseball and a few other marquee games, as well; they could spread out during the season — but not that many. And the Home Run Derby and the first round of the playoffs. [The] Home Run Derby, I think, could end up at Fox. It makes sense. Fox, for years, has thought to have the Home Run Derby one night on their air and have the All-Star Game the next night. Good synergy with the two of them. I could see that ending up there.”
As for the Wild Card round, Marchand noted their undeniable value but acknowledged the challenges of finding the right home.
“The postseason, as we talked about a number of times, has value,” the sports media insider added. “I’m not saying where that would end up; that gets complicated because its weekday. Can you get on broadcast? Eh, I’m not sure. If I’m MLB, I do not want to be on a streamer for that, especially if it’s out of nowhere. Same thing with the regular season game(s). We talked about the idea of ‘scarcity,’ and those games don’t really have scarcity.”
But the Home Run Derby does.
And Fox is primed to pounce with ESPN now out of the picture.
According to Marchand, the network has long viewed the event as a perfect complement to its All-Star Game coverage, and moving the Derby to Fox would be seamless. As MLB seeks new homes for its marquee events, the Derby’s high-profile appeal seemingly makes it a natural fit for the network’s sports-heavy lineup.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.