WASHINGTON (March 3, 2025)- ESPN has dropped Major League Baseball (MLB) from their TV services. The move creates new pressure on “America’s pastime” to find new ways to promote the sport and make money in “ a rapidly changing consumer and technology landscape that is upending its longstanding economic model.” The Wall Street Journal reported that “ESPN planned to exercise an opt-out clause to escape the final three seasons of its contract with MLB.”
For more context on the matter, please consider Lisa Delpy Neirotti, the director of the MS in Sport Management Program and an associate professor of sport management, has been a professor of sport, event, and tourism management at GW for more than 30 years. Delpy Neirotti works with a number of sport event organizations, sponsors, and professional teams to conduct economic and market research studies including the Olympic Games, World Cup, Citi Bank Tennis Tournament, College Football Bowl Games, among others. Neirotti has worked 22 consecutive Olympics as a consultant, volunteer or researcher, in addition to 5 World Cups, and hundreds of other major sport events since 1984.
Neitorrti said “Everyone knows the NBA rights went for more than they were probably worth, but there was competition in the marketplace to keep the values high. Right now MLB does not have that same competitor bidding.”
If you wish to speak with Dr. Lisa Delpy Neirotti, please contact Media Relations Specialist Shannon Mitchell at [email protected].
-GW-
