ESPN inks 8 year $5.6 Billion deal with MLB

[Can_of_corn]

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2012/08/28/ESPN-MLB.aspx

The eight-year deal is worth $5.6B (an average of $700M per year), approximately doubling the nearly $306M ESPN currently pays MLB every year for domestic TV rights. The new deal adds in digital, international and radio, for which ESPN is paying MLB around $50M currently, sources said.

Each teams share should go from around 10 million to over 20 million.

[CA-ORIOLE]

...Wow !!

[MikeAD]

How are they going to pay that much and not get playoff baseball?

Crazy.

[Tony-OH]

How are they going to pay that much and not get playoff baseball?

Crazy.

Who watched ESPN baseball? I'm shocked that they think they can make money this way. I watch MASN and then I watch the MLB network. That's it.

[Can_of_corn]

Who watched ESPN baseball? I'm shocked that they think they can make money this way. I watch MASN and then I watch the MLB network. That's it.

Can they afford to not offer baseball? It still seems like an overpay, I can't imagine another player coming in and taking over that package of games at anywhere near that money.

[DK745]

I wonder if it's less about the games and more about the ad revenue they get from it (since people won't skip commercials during live games.) Also worth it to keep Comcast/NBC Sports Network from getting it and helping to establish itself as a rival network to ESPN.

I really wish games would move away from ESPN and Fox though. It's like they're trying to do poor coverage on purpose.

[Can_of_corn]

I wonder if it's less about the games and more about the ad revenue they get from it (since people won't skip commercials during live games.) Also worth it to keep Comcast/NBC Sports Network from getting it and helping to establish itself as a rival network to ESPN.

I really wish games would move away from ESPN and Fox though. It's like they're trying to do poor coverage on purpose.

I think it has more to do with maintaining leverage over cable providers.

[DK745]

ESPN also picked up rights to carry games featuring more popular teams, like the Yankees and Red Sox, more frequently.

Because they don't show enough of the Yankees and Red Sox..

[MikeAD]

Who watched ESPN baseball? I'm shocked that they think they can make money this way. I watch MASN and then I watch the MLB network. That's it.

I will watch it in the rare times that an Orioles game is covered. I really don't ever get to watch TV, but once in awhile I watch Baseball Tonight because I have never gotten MLB Network. I get most of my coverage online, which usually ends up being ESPN.com.

The coverage is awful though. MASN is actually really good for a regional production.

[weams]

Can they afford to not offer baseball? It still seems like an overpay, I can't imagine another player coming in and taking over that package of games at anywhere near that money.

No Olympics, No Baseball, No Sports Network. They had plenty of unspent Olympic money.

[Bosibus]

Maybe the Os will get a Sunday night game eventually...

[byrdz]

Where does all of this money go? Hopefully an equal amount to each team?

ESPN also picked up rights to carry games featuring more popular teams, like the Yankees and Red Sox, more frequently.

Because they don't show enough of the Yankees and Red Sox..

This certainly explains a lot! The Yankees and Red Sox basically have a joint network now. Ensured of a solid fan base and more riches no matter how bad they get.

[Don Quixote]

The Yankees and Red Sox basically have a joint network now. Ensured of a solid fan base and more riches no matter how bad they get.

YESPNESN's been around for a long time.

[Don Quixote]

I wonder if it's less about the games and more about the ad revenue they get from it (since people won't skip commercials during live games.)

People skip commercials during live games all the time - get a sandwich, get chips, get more beer, take a dump, etc.

[ledzepp8]

I wonder if it's less about the games and more about the ad revenue they get from it (since people won't skip commercials during live games.) Also worth it to keep Comcast/NBC Sports Network from getting it and helping to establish itself as a rival network to ESPN.

I really wish games would move away from ESPN and Fox though. It's like they're trying to do poor coverage on purpose.

Agreed with this. I never watch ESPN unless it's college or NFL football...or MASN switches over to ESPNews. I can't really stand baseball on Fox because I don't like McCarver and everything is on too loud on their broadcasts. It's like they have 100,000 mics all over the field...it just all sounds pumped in from the studio to enhance the ambiance.