Paging Paul Harvey. A Friday report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic stated rather ominously that Major League Baseball is “bracing for a reduction in TV rights fees in pending ESPN deal,” but I think the rest of the story might be missing. Let’s first take a look at what Rosenthal wrote.
MLB’s previous deal with ESPN was an eight-year, $5.6 billion contract worth $700 million per year. The agreement under discussion would be for seven years and approximately $3.85 billion, reducing the average annual value to about $550 million per year, sources said.