MLB is about to toss a changeup with its media partnerships.
Apple TV+ potentially could soon end its union with MLB and Netflix is set to acquire the Home Run Derby, among a myriad of changes, according to Yahoo.
Netflix acquiring the summer extravaganza and MLB TV being sold to ESPN for a large payment are reportedly “all but certain.”
The Apple portion is the current buzz, per Yahoo, but the report cautions the parties’ deal lasts through 2028 and things could always change.
Apple leaving would remove its “Friday Night Baseball” package and NBC and Peacock could swoop in to have Friday and Sunday exclusive games, plus wild-card playoff contests, according to the report.
MLB’s media rights — including those with Fox and TBS — reportedly end in 2028, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said last Sunday that the league planned to announce its deals soon.
Earlier this year, ESPN opted out of its MLB deal following the 2025 season. The sides have since discussed a potential extension.
“We’re having very detailed conversations with a number of parties, including ESPN,” Manfred said, as transcribed by Sports Business Journal. “We hope to have it resolved in the next couple of weeks. It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle, but we will have it resolved in the next few weeks.”
The Apple news is notable since its exclusive Friday game draws the ire of some fans who do not have the streaming service and therefore cannot watch their favorite teams play.
Apple and MLB signed a seven-year deal worth roughly $85 million before the 2022 season, per Front Office Sports, meaning there would need to be some negotiating to end the pact early.
Netflix adding the Home Run Derby would provide another live premium event to its catalogue that now includes WWE’s “Raw” and past notable events like Mike Tyson’s boxing match versus Jake Paul.
Such a move would be a blow to Fox, per FOS, since the network is eyeing ways to add more to its docket during the All-Star festivities beyond just the game itself.
ESPN acquiring MLB TV would give the company access to its out-of-market portfolio, which could mesh with the company’s new direct-to-consumer offering launching Thursday, per the Yahoo report.
Acquiring such an asset “is of particular interest” to ESPN, according to Front Office Sports, since chairman Jimmy Pitaro wants to be an option for in-market games.
“That is an industry that is changing very, very rapidly,” Pitaro said last year, per FOS. “Every day, it seems I’m reading about another team that is changing their approach in terms of local, in-market games. We want to be at least part of the solution. … We are very interested in stepping up here.”
He even hinted at the possibility last year.
“That said, if Major League Baseball is able to put together a group of teams, we would love to be able to … do a larger deal that, quite honestly, would be simpler than having to do individual team deals,” Pitaro said when asked about the topic by Front Office Sports.