TV, stadium issues and collective bargaining negotiations are on the horizon.
The planned divorce between the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN unit and Major League Baseball is going to impact the MLB expansion plan. MLB is looking for a partner for its Sunday night baseball package beginning in 2026. The reason for the divorce? Money. MLB wants more dollars for its product and the Disney Company is looking to pay less. MLB has to do three things before it can even consider expanding. MLB owners have to work out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the present CBA is done in December 2026. MLB needs to solve stadium problems in Las Vegas and in St. Petersburg, Florida. There could be stadium issues in Chicago, Kansas City and Phoenix. Then there is television.
Major League Baseball has a massive regional cable TV problem as local regional networks in a good many markets have financial problems. That is just one part of the TV problem. The other, MLB’s national TV packages with Rupert Murdoch’s FOX over-the-air platform and Warner Brothers Discovery’s TNT Sports end in 2028. Warner Brothers Discovery has been in a slashing mode throughout its other properties and lost its National Basketball Association package. The NBA-TNT deal is done after this season’s playoffs. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has already indicated that MLB is not going to expand during his final years in office. Manfred’s contract ends in 2029. MLB is facing some turbulence. The collective bargaining agreement negotiations could be contentious. Manfred called ESPN a “shrinking platform” and he is correct as cable TV cord cutters are walking away from the platform. In Las Vegas, Athletics owner John Fisher has not shown he has the money to build a stadium, in St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay Rays’ ownership could walk away from a stadium deal. It’s a tough time for MLB.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
