MLB to take over three more teams’ local rights; Jim Trotter settles his lawsuit with the NFL; Wimbledon schedule changes coming in 2025; ESPN officially announces Shams hiring.
MLB to produce games for Guardians, Brewers, and Twins in 2025
Major League Baseball announced Tuesday it will produce and distribute local broadcasts of games for the Guardians, Brewers, and Twins for the 2025 season, joining the Padres, Diamondbacks, and Rockies, whose broadcasts were taken over by MLB in the previous two seasons. Last week, Diamond Sports Group signaled its intent to drop 11 of its 12 MLB contracts (including the Guardians, Brewers, and Twins) to produce and distribute games on its Bally Sports networks (soon to be rebranded as FanDuel Sports Networks).
As MLB has taken over local distribution rights, it has successfully negotiated deals with local cable and satellite distributors, as well as created in-market streaming platforms as an offshoot of the MLB.TV out-of-market streaming service. The in-market streams were priced at $20/month or $100/season for the Padres, Diamondbacks, and Rockies in 2024, but no pricing details have been announced for 2025. Game announcers, which are hired by the teams themselves, have typically been retained when MLB has taken over local broadcasts.
Diamond intends to retain the contract with the Atlanta Braves and continue to produce games for Bally Sports Southeast. The Texas Rangers have rejected their deal with Diamond Sports and are said to be exploring their local rights options, including creating a team-owned streaming service. This leaves the Tigers, Rays, Reds, Cardinals, Royals, Marlins, and Angels without a local media rights deal for the 2025 season. Options for these teams include re-signing with Diamond at a reduced rights fee, turning their rights back to MLB, or pursuing an independent cable, over-the-air, or streaming provider.
The news comes as MLB is seeking a more national strategy for its teams’ local media rights that increases reach, limits blackouts, and makes games more accessible to fans. ESPN, Amazon, and Google have all expressed interest in local MLB rights.
Trotter, NFL reach settlement
Former NFL Network host Jim Trotter has reached a settlement with the NFL in his retaliation lawsuit. Trotter said in a statement Wednesday he will be creating a scholarship foundation for journalism students at HBCUs, with the NFL set to make a donation in support.
The lawsuit originated last year after Trotter alleged his contract was not renewed following several high-profile incidents, including publicly questioning NFL commissioner Roger Goodell over what he saw as discriminatory practices within the league’s media arm. The league, which has denied all of Trotter’s accusations, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was denied in May of this year.
Trotter currently works as a national columnist for The Athletic, but does not cover the NFL.
Wimbledon announces finals schedule changes
The All England Lawn Tennis Club announced changes to the final weekend of play for the Wimbledon Championships in 2025 and beyond. The men’s and women’s singles finals have been moved up two hours, from 9 AM to 11 AM ET. Additionally, the mixed doubles final will move from its traditional place on Sunday (after the men’s final) to Thursday following the women’s semifinals (around 1:30 PM ET). The women’s doubles final will also move from Saturday to Sunday.
ESPN, which controls the US rights to the tournament through 2035, did not not share changes to its programming schedule, although it’s possible the singles finals could move from ESPN to ABC with the later start time. Last month, ABC televised the men’s final of the US Open for the first time after years on cable. ABC currently airs live Wimbledon coverage from 1-4 PM ET on both days of the middle weekend of play, and airs the singles finals in a tape-delayed format from 3-6 PM ET. ABC does not typically televise sports before noon ET, with exceptions made for marquee international events like the Monaco Grand Prix.
In a statement, the AELTC said the move was made to ensure “our champions [are] being crowned in front of the largest possible worldwide audience”. The 138th Wimbledon Championships will take place June 30-July 15, 2025.
ESPN makes Shams hiring official
ESPN has officially announced the hiring of NBA insider Shams Charania, after Charania himself shared the news on X Monday. He will make his debut as an official ESPN employee this Thursday, although he has appeared frequently as a guest on The Pat McAfee Show.
Charania, who has previously worked for The Athletic, Stadium, FanDuel TV and Yahoo Sports, will appear on SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take, The Pat McAfee Show as well as NBA Countdown and NBA Today. He will also report news for ESPN.com and contribute to the network’s coverage of the NBA Draft.
Charania’s hiring was made necessary after the abrupt departure of NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, who left ESPN after 7 years to join the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team as a general manager.
