Rob Manfred: MLB expansion could improve league’s TV strategy

According to Rob Manfred, ESPN can stand to benefit from expansion.

While the network and Major League Baseball are engaged in what Jimmy Pitaro described as “healthy dialogue” following the mutual opt-out that could see ESPN’s rights split into three, there’s hope — not just from Karl Ravech — that baseball will remain in Bristol in some capacity.

Whatever happens, Manfred expects this to be resolved in the coming weeks.

According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, NBC and its associated streaming platform Peacock, along with Apple TV+, have emerged as the “top contenders” for MLB’s Sunday Night Baseball package. The two platforms are also front-runners for the first-round playoff games ESPN held as part of its contract, though it is possible MLB will split its postseason inventory from the Sunday Night Baseball package.

Regardless of whether the baseball postseason continues on ESPN or not, Manfred sees expansion as directly tied to the media rights conversation. Baseball could very well expand its reach to Charlotte, Portland, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Montreal, and/or Orlando, among others. And Manfred sees more teams and better geographic alignment as potential selling points to networks like ESPN.

“I can,” Manfred said when asked by David Cone if he could see expansion and realignment down the road. “I think the first two topics are related in my mind. I think that if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to realign geographically. I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you’d be playing out of the East, out of the West, in that 10 o’clock timeslot, where we sometimes get Boston/Anaheim, would be two West Coast teams. And that 10 o’clock slot that’s a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience.”

Manfred also discussed geographic realignment.

“That 10:00 timeslot, where we sometimes get Boston/Anaheim, would be 2 West Coast teams. And that 10:00 slot that’s a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience.”pic.twitter.com/3NkVqfL7W3

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 18, 2025

If ESPN sticks around enough to see this through, Manfred is basically promising cleaner programming windows and more compelling matchups. The 10 p.m. ET timeslot has been a ratings killer when it features East Coast teams playing on the West Coast, creating awkward viewing times for both markets. Two West Coast teams in that slot would at least guarantee one fan base is watching in primetime.

“I think the owners realize that there is demand for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities, and we have an opportunity to do something good around that expansion process,” the longtime MLB commissioner said.

This is classic spin from a commissioner of a major pro sport, framing what’s essentially a revenue grab as altruism. Yes, there is demand in those markets, but the “something good” he’s referring to is the massive expansion fees (likely $2+ billion per team) that would get split among current owners. The real question is whether adding more teams actually helps or hurts the media rights equation, especially when you’re already struggling to maintain audience engagement with 30 teams.