MLB is reportedly announcing new media rights deals; Disney is denied a preliminary injunction against Sling Orange daily and weekend passes; and Netflix reveals its NFL Christmas Day broadcast teams. Plus news on the NFL, LPGA, Prime Video and ESPN NBA.
MLB to reportedly announce new media rights deals Wednesday
Major League Baseball will announce new national media rights deals on Wednesday with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix, according to Austin Karp and Mike Mazzeo of Sports Business Journal. The details of the new contracts are as have been reported for months, with NBCU acquiring “Sunday Night Baseball” and the Wild Card Round, Netflix getting the Home Run Derby and Opening Night, and ESPN acquiring MLB.tv, local rights to six franchises and a weekly primetime package.
Among the new details reported by SBJ Wednesday is that NBC’s slate will reportedly begin with Diamondbacks-Dodgers in primetime on the second night of the season and that ESPN will continue to carry the “Little League Classic” and air “Baseball Tonight.” According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Netflix will get the “Field of Dreams” game next season and NBCU-owned Peacock will air Sunday morning games previously on Roku.
Notably, both MLB.tv and the local rights ESPN is acquiring will remain available on MLB platforms at the outset of the deal.
The new deals will last for three years, the length of time that was remaining on the contract ESPN opted out of in February. In a recent appearance on the Sports Media Watch Podcast, NBC Sports president Rick Cordella indicated that the company hopes to foster a long-term relationship with MLB as an incumbent. “We didn’t get in the business of baseball to do a three-year deal. The hope is that we get in for three years, they re-jigger their packages a bit, and we can assess what content we want to buy in the future.”
Disney denied preliminary injunction in Sling Orange passes case
A federal judge denied The Walt Disney Company’s request for a preliminary injunction in litigation it brought forth against Dish for daily and weekend passes on its Sling Orange streaming service. Disney had argued that the passes, which grants users temporary access to their channels, violated its licensing agreement and presented damage to its business model.
In an 11-page ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian disagreed with Disney’s claim that the term “subscriber” indicated a recurring account rather than a one-off purchase, according to a report from Daniel Kaplan of Awful Announcing. Subramanian said that “considering the Passes to be ‘subscriptions’ doesn’t necessarily conflict with conventional understanding of what the term means.” The judge concluded that Disney citing dictionary definitions and arguing “that subscriptions must be recurring over multiple time periods isn’t necessarily right.”
Subramanian also did not see evidence that the Passes are a threat to the ESPN Unlimited platform. If the offering was proven to “siphon customers from” the platform, he ruled that Disney has not demonstrated the losses to “be quantifiable.” The judge conveyed that a solution can come through inking a new license with the current agreement slated to expire in less than a year “[E]veryone agrees that the next round of negotiations will need to commence soon.”
Sling TV celebrated the legal ruling by reducing the price of its Sling Orange Day Pass subscriptions from $4.99/day to $1/day through Sunday, Nov. 30. Company SVP Seth Van Sickel called the decision “a win for consumers and a validation of what Sling stands for.” Sling TV still faces a breach of contract lawsuit from Warner Bros. Discovery filed in a New York federal court this past September.
Netflix reveals NFL Christmas Day broadcast teams
Netflix is welcoming several new faces to its coverage of the NFL Christmas Day doubleheader amid reports that ESPN and Fox Sports are no longer willing to share talent. Commanders RB Austin Ekeler, who tore his right Achilles tendon in Week 2 and is out for the season, will serve as a desk analyst ahead of his team’s game against the Cowboys at 1 PM ET. Former Cowboys WR Michael Irvin and Patriots DB Devin McCourty will also be on the pregame show anchored by FanDuel TV host Kay Adams starting at 11 AM ET.
As previously announced, CBS Sports broadcaster Ian Eagle will work as the play-by-play announcer for Cowboys-Commanders with analysts Matt Ryan and Nate Burleson. CBS Sports reporter Melanie Collins and NFL Network reporter Stacey Dales are also returning to work the sidelines for the early game. NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson will be on remote coverage with former NFL G Kyle Long.
NFL Network host Jamie Erdahl and analyst Manti Te’o will be on the desk with former NFL WR Brandon Marshall before Lions-Vikings. The half-hour pregame show starts at 4 PM ET and leads into the game with Noah Eagle and Drew Brees on the call. Although Brees now works for Fox Sports, the company has reportedly allowed him to continue with his Netflix assignment.
Dianna Russini, senior NFL insider for The Athletic, makes her return to NFL live game television coverage. Russini formerly worked as a reporter for ESPN where she was on the sidelines for a “Monday Night Football” game in 2019 and also appeared on “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “SportsCenter.” CBS Sports reporter AJ Ross will also make her Netflix debut, while CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore returns in the same role for both contests.
Plus: NFL, LPGA, Prime Video, ESPN NBA
- New Orleans Saints president Dennis Lauscha said Tuesday that the team expects to potentially play a regular-season game in Paris in 2026 at Stade de France, according to Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. The news comes just days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shared that the league is close to finalizing plans for international games in “a couple more” markets next year.
- For the first time in LPGA history, all matches will air live on linear television in 2026 under a multiyear partnership with commercial property insurer FM, officially moving away from the use of tape delay. A majority of the coverage will air on Golf Channel and select weekend rounds will be on CNBC, but the LPGA is maintaining a broadcast presence with CBS and NBC in the fold as well.
- Andrew Catalon will host Prime Video coverage of “The Capital One Skins Game” on Black Friday starting at 9 AM ET, working alongside on-course analyst Colt Knost and reporter Dan Rapaport. The competition will begin a day of Black Friday sports programming that will feature an NFL game and NBA doubleheader.
- ESPN is bringing back its “Dunk the Halls” alternate broadcast on Christmas Day showcasing the Knicks-Cavaliers NBA game on Main Street USA. The venture is being produced with Beyond Sports and Hawk-Eye Innovations and will be available on ESPN2, the ESPN App Disney+, Disney Channel and Disney XD.
