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MLB’s Sophie’s Choice

The current market for new sports media deals suggests that we’ve entered an era of belt-tightening for everyone besides the NFL. Now Major League Baseball, in particular, will have to choose between awareness and pure cash.

MLB
MLB will have to decide whether it wants NBC’s exposure or Apple’s cash. While NBC would like to pick up the MLB rights, the network is not coming close to offering the $550 million that ESPN currently pays per year. Photo: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
John Ourand
May 22, 2025

The year 2025, at least for the sports media industrial complex, is sort of like a midterm election. The industry is understandably fixated on 2028-9, the big kahuna, when Major League Baseball’s deals expire with Fox and WBD, and when the NFL has a chance to exercise an out in its own deal, which could spell mortal trouble—well, even more mortal trouble than already exists, if you can believe such a thing—for CBS and Paramount or, really, any of the broadcasters.