Opinion: ESPN/MLB breakup is bad for baseball, it's fans

It’s not the only network that has ever been tied to Major League Baseball for a long, long time. However, the relationship between ESPN and MLB is one that everybody has seemingly been happy with for a decades now.

At the end of this season, that relationship is over, at least for now, and to a fan who loves baseball on network television daily, no matter who is playing, that’s not a good thing.

No the breakup of ESPN and MLB is bade for baseball, and especially bad for baseball fans, including those of the Colorado Rockies.

Back in 2021, ESPN and MLB signed a mega deal that was supposed to last until 2028. That deal included some pretty awesome baseball games and events. Inside the deal, ESPN had the rights to 30 games, the entire Wild Card Series, the Home Run Derby other All-Star events, and the annual Opening Night broadcast each year. But, earlier in the week, both parties agreed to terminate the last three years of the deal.

The why doesn’t really matter because, it appears as if the decision is final. It’s rumored that both sides had some demands and wanted to make changes to the deal, but who really knows what went down behind closed doors. And honestly, who cares? What’s done is done.

Regardless of why this all went down, the fact of the matter is, this isn’t good for baseball fans. ESPN is highly visible, highly accessible, and it cast a wide net over Major League Baseball. And that’s a good thing. The more content, the more coverage, the better for the fans.

Something else I always liked about ESPN’s coverage of regular season baseball was the tradition of Sunday Night Baseball, and the networks willingness to not just show the biggest matchups, but, spread the wealth. I know it may not have seemed like the Rockies were on Sunday Night Baseball much in recent years, but, to an all-around baseball fan, the broadcast featured the best of regular season baseball, and if you just loved the game, it has been an awesome tradition

Obviously, all of what ESPN had the rights to as it pertains to baseball isn’t going to go away. There will be a major negotiation and MLB will look for a new network, or perhaps more unfortunately, a streaming giant to take over ESPN’s chunk of the baseball pie. But that will mean changes. It could mean no more Buster Olney, no more Karl Ravich, or Jeff Passan or other on-air talent that has become so synonymous with the ESPN deal. It could also mean different formats, different days and different times in which the games are broadcast, and that’s a break from tradition. And a lot of people like tradition. 

I’m one of those baseball fans. I like tradition. And I liked ESPN’s coverage of the MLB. Maybe in the longterm it will be OK. Maybe in the longterm this will all get worked out. But all I know is, in 2026 Major League Baseball won’t be on ESPN and I don’t think, at least in the short term, that’s good for baseball or baseball fans.