There is some big money exchanging hands as Turner Sports (TBS) and MLB have come to an agreement on a multi-year extension.
The new deal will prove to be quite lucrative for Major League Baseball. After all, it replaces the former deal which currently gives MLB an average of $325 million per year from the television giant. Under the new deal, TBS will now send over roughly $535 million per year over a seven-year deal. That will mark a 65 percent increase in value. Overall, the deal which was officially announced on Thursday is worth $3.7 billion. It also continues a long-standing partnership that dates all the way back to 1973.
Slight Changes
As both sides enter into a new venture together, there will look to be some slight changes to the coverage for TBS. Under the current deal, the regular season package for TBS includes a half-season coverage of regular-season games, airing Sunday afternoon games. Under the new deal, however, TBS’s regular-season package will expand to the entire regular season. That Sunday afternoon coverage will now change to Tuesday night.
The broadcasting giant will also be picking up a wild-card postseason game. That comes in addition to the two division series and one League Championship Series they have every year.
Also as part of the deal, TBS will be now be producing a new pre-game show hosted by Ernie Johnson, who prior had been in the play-by-play role. Alongside Johnson in the pregame show will be newly hired Curtis Granderson along with Pedro Martinez and Jimmy Rollins. The MLB Turner Sports Baseball package is getting better and that’s great news for baseball fans.
A Digital Flare
This deal is pulling out all the stops for TBS, which includes a digital component. TBS picked up TV Everywhere rights. That allows Turner Sports to carry games on all its platforms to authentic viewers. They also get more highlight rights for all their apps including Bleacher Report. TBS can also produce complementary apps around its games.
Overall the deal comes as the second big TV deal for major league baseball. In the fall of 2018, baseball agreed to an extension with FOX Sports. That includes ESPN’s package, which includes Sunday Night Baseball, as the only TV deal left for MLB.
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