USA/MLB: renegotiated agreement with ESPN, NBC & Netflix as new broadcasters (2026-2028, $800m/year)

Major League Baseball has signed agreements with the American groups ESPN and NBCUniversal, as well as with the streaming platform Netflix, to broadcast certain MLB games in the United States over the 2026-2028 cycle (three seasons), according to the North American league on 19/11/2025.

These new agreements come after the early termination, at the end of the 2025 season, of the initial contract between ESPN and MLB. The Disney subsidiary was due to broadcast 30 MLB regular season games (including Sunday night games) until 2028, paying $550m (€473m at the date of the agreement) a year for these rights over the 2022-2028 cycle (i.e. $3.85bn over seven years).

However, the two entities decided to terminate their agreement because of a reduction in ESPN's coverage of baseball and investments "in a way that is not consistent with the sport's appeal," said the League. ESPN, which has been broadcasting MLB since 1990, wanted to reduce the cost of the rights.

Under the new agreements:
• ESPN will broadcast 30 games per season and distribute the MLB TV platform (including games outside the…