According to a source close to the negotiations, Major League Baseball is nearing new eight-year television agreements with both Fox and Turner Sports that are expected to by finalized by October. The new contracts will keep MLB and the two sports stations in partnership through at least the 2021 season, per the Associated Press:
MLB Nearing New TV Deals With Fox And TBS
Fox will retain rights to the World Series and to a league championship series every year, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.
The amount baseball receives from the two networks is likely to double to an average of about $800 million annually.
One major difference reported in the deals from the previous agreements is that some first-round playoff games will be broadcast on Fox’s Speed channel rather than TBS. Both teams will continue to run their nationally-broadcast weekend games, and TBS will air the LCS not broadcast by Fox. The annual $800 million is reported to be split as $500 million from Fox and $300 million from TBS, according to USA Today.
Fellow sports giant ESPN re-upped its partnership with MLB late last month with a similar eight-year deal, though the league is expected to receive a robust $700 million annually from the Disney subsidiary.
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