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| Karl Ravech was a mainstay on Baseball Tonight. | Photo: Rich Arden, ESPN |
This is big.
Baseball Tonight wasn’t just a show—it was a ritual. Every night, every Sunday, every highlight package narrated by Karl Ravech, Harold Reynolds, or Peter Gammons felt like baseball’s version of a sacred text. And when Sunday Night Baseball rolled around with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan? It didn’t matter who was playing. You watched. You just did.
Growing up, Baseball Tonight dominated my TV far more than SportsCenter ever did. It was the pulse of the sport, the bridge between the day’s games and the box scores in the morning paper. But somewhere along the way, that pulse started to fade. ESPN scaled back. Baseball Tonight, once a daily staple, became an afterthought. And now? It’s barely a whisper.
Now, Major League Baseball and ESPN are officially parting ways. After the 2025 season, a decades-long partnership will come to an end.
ESPN first aired MLB games in 1990, but in a statement Thursday, the league made it clear—it’s not happy with how baseball has been treated by the network in recent years.
“Given that MLB provides strong viewership, valuable demographics, and the exclusive right to cover unique events like the Home Run Derby, ESPN’s demand to reduce rights fees is simply unacceptable,” the league said. “As a result, we have mutually agreed to terminate our agreement.”
The timing? Ironic. Baseball is surging. Attendance in 2024 topped 71.3 million, the most in seven years. Viewership? Up, including on Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN’s flagship MLB broadcast. The sport has momentum—faster pace, more action, generational talent.
And yet, ESPN is walking away.
For baseball fans, this feels like losing Baseball Weekly all over again. Yes, MLB Network does great work, but it’s not the same - at lease for those of a certain age. Baseball Tonight made the sport feel alive—a constant companion through the summer. And now, it’s just another reminder of baseball’s shifting place in the sports world.
What comes next? That’s the question. MLB says there’s already strong interest from both traditional media and streaming services, and new deals will be explored for 2026 and beyond.
But for those of us who grew up with Baseball Tonight as the soundtrack to the sport, this one stings.
