Joe Buck is preparing to call a Major League Baseball Opening Day game in what is expected to be the sport’s final season on ESPN.
Last month, ESPN opted out of the final three seasons of its contract with MLB after reportedly seeking to reduce its annual rights payment to the league from $550 million to $200 million. The decision will take effect after this season, likely ending a more than 35-year-old partnership. Buck, however, isn’t so sure, believing there remains a path for MLB and ESPN to continue their relationship beyond this year.
This week, Buck will work his first MLB game since joining ESPN, calling the network’s Opening Day broadcast of the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers. Joining Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo’s SiriusXM Radio show to discuss preparing to call a national MLB game for the first time since 2021, Buck was also asked about ESPN’s relationship with the league.
“I personally believe Jimmy Pitaro, that they’d love to be in business with baseball just not at that number. I think everything is a negotiation,” Buck told Russo. “And this is just me talking because he and I have never specifically talked about it, but I know Jimmy to be a huge baseball fan, a huge Yankee fan. So the idea that he or ESPN would just wash their hands of baseball, I just don’t believe that.”
Last week, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told The Athletic they remain open to re-engaging with MLB about a new media rights agreement, albeit while admitting he doesn’t know where the league stands on potentially continuing their relationship.
“Would I be shocked if something happened in the future where they came back in a room at a table and said let’s find a number that makes both of us comfortable?” Buck asked. “I would not be shocked. But it could be over at ESPN too, at least in the near term. So I don’t know where ESPN goes…but I think the more you can make these games available to the average fan and to the older fan, the better.”
ESPN’s package includes Opening Day, Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and a slate of first-round playoff games. MLB began shopping the package immediately after the opt-out clause was invoked, with Fox reportedly expressing some interest, while NBC, Amazon and Netflix are also viewed as possible candidates to pick up some or all of the media rights ESPN is leaving behind.
Putting more games on streaming services won’t do much to abide by Buck’s suggestion of appeasing the older fan. But keeping the MLB on ESPN might. And if Joe Buck falls in love with calling national baseball games again after getting a taste of Opening Day this week, then maybe he’ll be rooting harder for MLB to reconcile with ESPN too. And if MLB is willing to offer a discounted package, then, of course, Pitaro and ESPN should be open to listening.
