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Major League Baseball on television in the 2020s

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The following is a general overview of Major League Baseball on television in the 2020s. During the 2020s, Major League Baseball announced its first exclusive television contract with a paid streaming service (Peacock and AppleTV+). Due to the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, MLB took over the production of the local broadcasts of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Year-by-year breakdown

[edit]

2020

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National

[edit]

2020 was the seventh year of eight-year deals with Fox, ESPN, and TBS. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Major League Baseball season was shortened to 60 games. Opening day was July 27. There was no All-Star game or Home Run Derby.[1]

As part of the shortened season, Major League Baseball used an expanded Wild Card Series for the 2020 season. TBS televised one AL Wild Card Series, both American League Division Series matchups and the American League Championship Series. ESPN televised seven of the eight Wild Card Series with live look-ins and alternate broadcasts on ESPN+.[2][3][4] On September 28, it was announced that ABC would broadcast at least four of ESPN's Wild Card Series games, marking the first time a national MLB game had aired on the network since 1995 (via the ill-fated The Baseball Network arrangement).[5] FS1 and MLB Network will televise both National League Division Series matchups. Fox and FS1 televised the National League Championship Series, and the World Series was on Fox for the 21st straight year.

Local

[edit]

The Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs signed new broadcast deals that went into effect in the 2020 season. The White Sox moved all their locally controlled games to NBC Sports Chicago, while the Cubs moved all their locally controlled games to Marquee Sports Network.[6][7][8]

Long-time Cincinnati Reds television play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman resigned on September 26 after he was caught using a homophobic slur in a game on August 19 against the Kansas City Royals.[9][10] Sideline host Jim Day took over Brennaman's duties for the rest of the season, beginning August 20.

2021

[edit]

National

[edit]

2021 was the eighth and final year of the contracts with Fox, ESPN, and TBS before new seven-year deals began in 2022. FS1 televised games on Tuesday nights and Saturdays, both during the afternoon and evening. Fox also aired some Saturday night games, as part of Baseball Night in America. ESPN televised games on its flagship Sunday Night Baseball as well as Monday and Wednesday night games and holiday games on Memorial Day and Labor Day. ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts were exclusive. TBS televised 13 straight weeks of Sunday afternoon games and also televised the National League postseason. The American League postseason was split between ESPN, Fox/FS1, and MLB Network (AL Wild Card on ESPN, the ALDS split between FS1 and MLB Network, and the ALCS on Fox and FS1). For the 22nd straight year, the 2021 World Series aired exclusively on Fox.[11]

A three-game series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants, whose regional television rights were both held by the NBC Sports Regional Networks, aired exclusively and nationally on NBC's streaming service Peacock. The first time that NBC Sports produced a nationally televised Major League Baseball game since the year 2000.[12]

ABC televised a Sunday Night Baseball matchup between the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs on August 8. The broadcast marked ABC's first broadcast of Sunday Night Baseball and the first regular season game it has broadcast since its involvement in The Baseball Network in 1995. Former ABC broadcaster and 2021 Ford C. Frick Award winner Al Michaels appeared as a special guest.[13]

Local

[edit]

On March 31, the eve of Opening Day, the Fox Sports Networks were rebranded as Bally Sports as part of an agreement between majority-owner Sinclair Broadcast Group and casino operator Bally's Corporation.[14][15][16]

As part of its co-ownership of YES Network, Amazon Prime Video simulcasted 21 of the Yankees games carried on broadcast TV by WPIX for Amazon Prime subscribers in the New York Yankees' home market.[17]

2022

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National

[edit]

2022 was the first season of new broadcast deals for Fox, ESPN and TBS that run through 2028. Fox remains the league's main broadcaster, carrying a package of regular season games on the main Fox broadcast network and FS1, and Spanish-language broadcasts on Fox Deportes. Fox aired primetime Baseball Night in America games primarily on Saturday nights, as well as the All-Star Game and MLB at Field of Dreams games.[18][19] With the move of Joe Buck to ESPN and Monday Night Football over the NFL offseason, Joe Davis became the new lead play-by-play announcer for Fox's MLB coverage.[20] ESPN networks carried 30 exclusive games per season, including 25 Sunday Night Baseball games, as well as an Opening Day primetime game, the Home Run Derby, and Spanish-language broadcasts on ESPN Deportes. ESPN dropped most of its weeknight game packages under its new contract, with only five non-Sunday games scheduled. As part of the new deal, ESPN has the option to carry selected games on ABC, and stream all of its games on ESPN+ (which, as before, carries a daily game from MLB.tv at no additional charge).[21][19] TBS switched from late-season Sunday games to Tuesday-night games throughout the season.[19][22] MLB Network will continue to broadcast various games throughout the season, including original MLB Network Showcase games, and simulcasts of games from local broadcasters.[19]

For the postseason, ESPN networks held rights to the wild-card round; due to logistical concerns (especially with the fluctuating placements of teams in the standings during the final games of the regular season), the network employed remote production for the Padres/Mets and Mariners/Blue Jays series. The latter series employed a variant of the "enhanced world feed" model used in the 2020 season, with commentators and other selected staff on-site at Rogers Centre, but using video feeds from the Sportsnet production.[23]

Fox Sports held rights to the National League Division Series, Championship Series, and the World Series for the 23rd consecutive season; while TBS held rights to the American League Division Series and Championship Series. Spanish-language broadcasts of all ALDS and ALCS games aired on MLB Network.[19][24]

Major League Baseball also reached a deal with Apple Inc. to establish a new exclusive package known as Friday Night Baseball in the United States, Canada, and other international territories, which is produced by MLB Network and streams on Apple TV+ throughout the regular season.[25] NBC Sports re-entered MLB broadcasting with MLB Sunday Leadoff, a new exclusive package of Sunday afternoon games streamed on Peacock. The contract will initially be for two years.[26][19] The MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube also returned with fifteen games during the season.[27]

In Canada, Sportsnet—the main Canadian rightsholder of MLB, and regional broadcaster of the co-owned Toronto Blue Jays—gained the rights to produce local broadcasts of postseason games if the Blue Jays participate (as opposed to previous seasons, where it was required to simulcast the U.S. telecasts), featuring its main broadcast team of Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler (Sportsnet's alternate play-by-play announcer, Dan Shulman, had commitments to ESPN Radio's postseason coverage. This became moot for future seasons after Shulman announced that he would step down from ESPN Radio's coverage after the 2022 season to focus more on roles at Sportsnet).[28][29][30]

Local

[edit]

Amazon Prime Video exclusively streams 21 Yankees games in the Yankees home market (except for the final game in the package, which was simulcast on both Prime Video and YES Network due to Aaron Judge's home run record). These games formerly were allocated to WPIX (which retains a sub-licensed 28-game Mets package from SNY).

On June 1, 2022, NESN, the television home of the Boston Red Sox, launched NESN 360, an over-the-top subscription streaming platform that offers live streams of Red Sox games without a cable subscription.[31][32]

On June 23, 2022, Bally Sports soft-launched Bally Sports+, an over-the-top subscription streaming platform that offers live streams and market-specific video-on-demand content from its regional networks. At that time, Bally was able to negotiate the streaming rights for only five of the MLB teams it holds local TV rights to Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, and Tampa.[33]

2023

[edit]

National

[edit]

2023 is the second year of the existing seven-year deals with ESPN, Fox, TBS, Apple TV+, and MLB Network; and the second year of a two-year deal with NBC Sports/Peacock:[34]

Fox continued to air their Baseball Night in America slate of exclusive Saturday games. However, the slate began in May, with the return of Saturday afternoon games in April, and Thursday evening games in the latter part of the season where Saturday games would conflict with Fox's college football obligations. The network also aired the 2023 MLB All-Star Game. FS1 also broadcast non-exclusive games on Saturdays at times when no game is on the broadcast network, along with some irregularly scheduled weeknight games, mostly on Monday nights.[35][36] Jason Benetti joined Fox as a play-by-play announcer.[37][38] Derek Jeter joined Fox Sports as a studio analyst.[39]

During the postseason, the ESPN networks (including ABC) (with Spanish–language simulcasts on ESPN Deportes) will air all four Wild Card Series.[40] TBS (with Spanish-language simulcasts on MLB Network) will then broadcast the National League Division Series and the National League Championship Series,[41] and Fox Sports (Fox and FS1, with Spanish-language simulcasts on Fox Deportes) will broadcast the American League Division Series, the American League Championship Series and the World Series.[18]

Apple TV+ continues to hold the rights to Friday Night Baseball.[34] Wayne Randazzo and Alex Faust will be the new primary play-by-play commentators, replacing Melanie Newman and Stephen Nelson. Dontrelle Willis and Ryan Spilborghs will be the new primary color commentators, replacing Katie Nolan, Hunter Pence, Hannah Keyser, and Chris Young. Randazzo will partner with Willis, while Faust will partner with Spilborghs.[42] Peacock will continue to air 19 MLB Sunday Leadoff games on Sunday afternoons. Brendan Burke will be the primary play-by-play announcer with Matt Vasgersian and Chris Vosters filling in. One game will be simulcast on NBC.[34]

YouTube did not renew its deal for the MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube. YouTube TV also dropped MLB Network on February 1 in a carriage fee dispute.[43]

In Canada, TVA Sports became the new national French-language broadcaster of the league under a three-season deal, carrying a package of 78 regular season games, the All-Star Game, and the postseason. TVA has historically also held French-language rights to the Toronto Blue Jays sub-licensed from Sportsnet, from which the network has sub-contracted some of its sports rights.[44][45]

Local

[edit]

In December, St. Louis Cardinals play-by-play announcer Dan McLaughlin was released by Bally Sports after a DWI arrest.[46] The Cardinals later announced that Atlanta Braves play-by-play announcer Chip Caray would take over the same role with the team.[47] In February, Brandon Gaudin was announced as the new play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves on Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast, replacing Caray.[48]

On February 15, 2023, Diamond Sports Group, owners of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, failed to make a $140M interest payment and entered a 30-day grace period.[49] On March 14, Diamond Sports officially filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.[50]

On May 31, Diamond officially missed a second payment to the Padres, and the Padres' television rights were returned to Major League Baseball. Because Bally Sports San Diego, which aired Padres games, is a joint venture between the Padres and Diamond it is technically not in bankruptcy. Therefore this missed payment did not have the same bankruptcy protections that Diamond's other missed payments had.[51][52]

On June 22, Diamond Sports Group announced its intention to reject its contract with the Diamondbacks on June 30.[53] Diamond and the Arizona Diamondbacks later released a joint statement pushing back the hearing to July 17 and agreeing to continue Diamond's broadcast of Diamondbacks' games.[54] On July 18, Diamond Sports officially rejected its contract with the DBacks. Like with the Padres, Major League Baseball took over production of the games, with the DBacks regular announcing team remaining in place.[55][56]
[57][58]

On February 24, 2023, the AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks sent a letter to the Rockies, Astros, and Pirates saying they had until March 31, to reach an agreement to take their local television rights back. Warner Bros. Discovery, the owners of the networks, intends to leave the regional sports networks business. If a deal is not reached the networks will file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Root Sports Northwest is not affected because the Mariners already own majority control of that network.[59][60] The Houston Astros and Houston Rockets negotiated throughout the season to take over AT&T SportsNet Southwest from Warner Bros. Discovery.[61] Ultimately, Warner Bros. Discovery and Major League Baseball negotiated a deal to keep the remaining RSNs operational through the end of the season.[62]

On March 29, YES Network, the television home of the New York Yankees, launched an over-the-top subscription streaming platform that offers live streams of Yankees games without a cable subscription.[63]

On May 22, NBC Sports California fired Oakland Athletics television play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper. Kuiper's last broadcast was a May 5 game at the Kansas City Royals, during which he unintentionally uttered a racial slur while on the air. Vince Cotroneo and Johnny Doskow have since shared play-by-play duties on the television booth to replace Kuiper.[64]

On July 25, Marquee Sports Network, the television home of the Chicago Cubs, launched an over-the-top subscription streaming platform that offers live streams of Cubs games without a cable subscription for $19.99 a month.[65]

On September 29, the Houston Astros confirmed their acquisition of a 50% stake in Space City Home Network, the rebranded successor to AT&T SportsNet Southwest, securing a place for their games to air in 2024.[66]

On December 13, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced they had acquired a stake in SportsNet Pittsburgh, the rebranded successor to AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, securing a place for their games to air in 2024.[67]

On December 31, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain shut down, leaving the Colorado Rockies without a television broadcaster.

2024

[edit]

National

[edit]

2024 is the third year of the existing seven-year deals with ESPN, Fox, TBS, Apple TV+, and MLB Network.[34] 2024 is the first year of a multi-year deal with TelevisaUnivision.[68]

Fox continued to air their Baseball Night in America and Fox Saturday Baseball slate of exclusive games on Saturday and select Thursday nights. The network aired the game at Rickwood Field, and also aired the 2024 MLB All-Star Game; both being exclusive games.[69] FS1 also broadcasts non-exclusive games, including a game on most Saturday afternoons.[18] Following his retirement, Adam Wainwright joined Fox as a full-time color commentator. He previously had done color commentary for Fox during select playoff games.[70]

TBS continued to broadcast MLB Tuesday. Most games were blacked out in the home markets of the teams playing, however, TBS was allowed to co-exist once with a teams' local broadcast.[41] During the final month of the regular season, TBS' sister network TruTV also aired MLB Race to the Pennant on Tuesday nights. The show featured a whip-around format hosted by Alanna Rizzo and Yonder Alonso. For the first time, TruTV will also air a regular season baseball game, between the Astros and the Padres, on Tuesday, September 17.[71] This is the first regular season that the streaming service Max will simulcast TNT Sports (TBS and TruTV) games on its Bleacher Report Sports Add-on tier.[72]

ESPN continued to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, with the option to show alternate broadcasts. ESPN also exclusively aired six other non-Sunday night games, including a primetime game on opening night, two Wednesday Night Baseball games, one game from the MLB Mexico City Series and one game from the MLB London Series. ESPN also aired both games from the MLB Seoul Series which were blacked out in local markets.[73] To end the regular season, ESPN2 aired a doubleheader featuring the Braves and the Mets. The games were originally scheduled to air on September 25 and 26 but were moved due to Hurricane Helene. The broadcasts were blacked out in New York.[74] The network also had the rights to the 2024 Home Run Derby.[40] ESPN+ continues to hold the rights to stream one game a day. All games are blacked out in local markets.[75] During the final three weeks of the season, ESPN or ESPN2 aired Baseball Tonight Special: MLB Squeeze Play on Wednesday nights. The studio show featured whip-around coverage focused on the pennant chase.[76]

In August 2024, MLB announced a new Spanish-language television agreement with TelevisaUnivision (whose TUDN Radio network holds the main Spanish-language radio rights to the league), under which UniMás and TUDN would air the weekly whiparound show MLB En Vivo on Tuesday nights through the remainder of the season, the weekly studio show MLB Esta Semana (lit. 'MLB This Week') on Saturday nights, and postseason coverage. Coverage is also streamed on Vix.[77] Univision talent includes Antonio de Valdés and Enrique Burak as hosts, Daniel Nohra and Luis Quiñones as play-by-play commentators and Luis Alberto Martínez and Daniel Schvarztman as reporters and guest analysts.[68]

MLB Network continued to broadcast games daily. While most games were simulcasts of the home teams' regional sports network broadcasts, select games were produced by the network under its MLB Network Showcase banner. All games were blacked out in the home markets of the teams playing.[78]

Apple TV+ continues to hold the rights to Friday Night Baseball.[34] Apple had option to opt out of the Friday Night Baseball deal prior to this season, however on March 7 it announced that it would not opt out therefore it would not be able to exit the agreement until it expires in the 2028 season.[34] This would also be the second year of DirecTV's sub-licensing agreement to show these games to commercial establishments.[79][80]

The Roku Channel replaced Peacock as the home for MLB Sunday Leadoff. Games are also available to MLB.tv customers blackout-free.[81]

During the postseason, the ESPN networks and ABC will aired all four Wild Card Series.[40] TNT Sports (TNT, TBS and TruTV) will then carried the American League Division Series and the American League Championship Series, and Fox Sports (Fox and FS1) broadcast the National League Division Series, the National League Championship Series, and the World Series.[18]

ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes hold rights to Spanish-language broadcasts of the postseason games aired by ESPN and Fox respectively. As part of MLB's agreement with TelevisaUnivision, Spanish-language coverage of the ALDS and ALCS aired on TUDN, UniMás, and Univision, and streaming on Vix. Spanish language coverage of Game 1 of the 2024 World Series will also air on Univision, marking the first time that a Spanish language network has aired the World Series on broadcast television.[77]

Local

[edit]

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) wound down its AT&T SportsNet regional sports network (RSN) business prior to the start of the 2024 season.[82] The move affected the Colorado Rockies on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, the Houston Astros on AT&T SportsNet Southwest, and the Pittsburgh Pirates on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.

The Astros and the NBA's Houston Rockets took over AT&T SportsNet Southwest and rebranded it to the Space City Home Network after the end of the Astros' regular season on October 3, 2023.[83] Fenway Sports Group, owners of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Red Sox, took over AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, rebranding it to just SportsNet Pittsburgh on October 2, 2023.[84] On December 13, 2023, the Pirates announced they would jointly own SportsNet Pittsburgh beginning on January 1, 2024. NESN, through Fenway Sports Group, will operate the network.[85][86] In February, MLB Local Media took over production of Rockies games.[87]

WBD had owned a 29% share of Root Sports Northwest, the Mariners' RSN, through the end of the 2023 season, and had produced Mariners telecasts. The Mariners took full control of the network on January 1, 2024.[88]

On October 31, 2023, the Minnesota Twins announced that television play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer would leave the booth to join the team's front office as its special assistant.[89] On December 1, the Twins replaced Bremer with Cory Provus, and Kris Atteberry took Provus' place as the radio play-by-play announcer.[90]

On November 9, 2023, Jason Benetti left the Chicago White Sox to join the Detroit Tigers as its lead television play-by-play announcer. Benetti replaced Matt Shepard whose contract was not renewed by Bally Sports Detroit. Dan Dickerson, the team's lead radio play-by-play announcer, will call games when Benetti has assignments with Fox Sports.[91]

On December 18, C. J. Nitkowski left the Texas Rangers to join the Atlanta Braves as its primary television analyst. Jeff Francoeur, who served as the Braves' primary analyst the previous season, will continue to make occasional appearances.[92]

On January 25, 2024, the Chicago White Sox announced John Schriffen as their lead television play-by-play announcer, replacing Jason Benetti who departed to join the Detroit Tigers as their lead play-by-play television announcer.[93]

This would be the second season affected by the February 2023 bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, owners of the Bally Sports regional sports networks. On February 2, 2024, Diamond Sports announced agreements with the Rangers, Guardians and Twins that will result in a decreased rights fee and will end their contracts with Diamond after the 2024 season.[94][95]

On February 13, 2024, the Oakland Athletics announced Jenny Cavnar as their lead television play-by-play announcer. She will be the first woman to be the primary play-by-play voice of an MLB team.[96] On February 20, the Athletics also hired Chris Caray, son of St. Louis Cardinals announcer Chip Caray, to serve as Cavnar's backup.[97]

Also on February 13, the Texas Rangers' broadcast team for 2024 was announced with Mike Bacsik, Dave Valle and David Murphy splitting analyst duties and Jared Sandler taking over as the backup TV play-by-play announcer behind Dave Raymond. The trio of Bacsik, Valle and Murphy replaced C. J. Nitkowski who joined the Braves broadcast team.[98]

On September 30, 2024, NBC Sports Chicago, the television home of the White Sox, ended its operations after 20 years. The White Sox, the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and the NBA's Chicago Bulls will move to the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) in the autumn as a joint venture with Standard Media Group.[99][100]

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[edit]
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