The package of midweek Major League Baseball games ceded by ESPN could end up at a most unlikely destination — Barstool.
MLB is in “significant negotiations” with Barstool to carry midweek games starting next season, the New York Post reported Monday. Per the Post, talks began recently and have “picked up steam,” though no agreement is certain. YouTube and Peacock, which have previously aired national MLB games, are also said to be contenders for the package.
The midweek package consists of the non-exclusive Monday and Wednesday night games that have aired on ESPN for years, but which the network is dropping in its new, reduced deal with MLB.
Barstool, which launched in 2004, has cultivated a fanbase consisting of the young male audience that sports leagues — particularly older-skewing MLB — desperately crave. It has also generated considerable backlash over its content, particularly as it pertains to race and gender. In 2017, ESPN began airing a Barstool branded late night show that lasted one episode before it was scuttled by internal opposition. The site was also the subject of an at-times unflattering profile on HBO’s “Real Sports” in 2019.
Though the negative publicity has dogged the site in its efforts to go mainstream, Barstool has nonetheless been able to attract multi-million dollar investors — and recently reached a deal to both sponsor and broadcast college football’s Arizona Bowl.
Barstool would be the first media organization of its kind to reach a rights deal with a major sports league. Bleacher Report — which like Barstool originated as a sports blog — now has its branding on WarnerMedia’s live streaming service B/R Live, which hosts properties such as NBA League Pass.
[News from NYP 8.9]
