The World Series is staying put on FOX for another decade.
Fox Sports and Major League Baseball have extended their media rights agreement an additional eight seasons through 2028, it was announced Thursday, extending the parties’ partnership to 33 years. Their current agreement runs out after the 2021 season.
Under the new deal, Fox Sports will continue to carry 52 regular season windows, the MLB All-Star Game, two Division Series, one League Championship Series, and the World Series. While the inventory will not change, the number of games slated for the FOX broadcast network will increase once the extension takes effect in 2022.
Fox will also air a number of “special event games” over the life of the contract, though it was unclear whether that was a new addition.
The New York Post was first to report that FOX and MLB were closing in on an extension.
According to Sports Business Daily, the new deal will be worth $729 million per year — a 39 percent increase over the current $525 million/year rights fee. Per the same report, MLB is in talks with its other partners ESPN and Turner Sports, but not yet close to extensions with those outlets.
By the end of Fox Sports’ new MLB deal, the run of 29 consecutive World Series on FOX will fall one year short of the longest streak by any network. NBC aired parts of 30 straight World Series from 1947-76.
[News from Fox Sports PR 11.15, Sports Business Daily 11.15]
