Just a month before the start of the 2025 season, MLB and ESPN have ‘mutually agreed’ to end their TV deal at the conclusion of this year, according to a memo sent to owners by the league’s commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday.

ESPN had reportedly been set to pay the league an estimated $550 million in each of the next three years. The network and MLB have been broadcast partners since 1990.

But with Apple paying just $85million annually for baseball rights, and MLB ‘not…  pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage,’ the two sides’ current agreement will now expire at the end of the 2025 season.

According to The Athletic, which obtained and first reported on the Manfred memo, ESPN was first to opt out due to the perceived inflated costs of the current deal, before MLB followed suit and also agreed to opt out after.

‘We do not think it’s beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform,’ Manfred wrote in the memo. ‘In order to best position MLB to optimize our rights going in to our next deal cycle, we believe it is not prudent to devalue our rights with an existing partner but rather to have our marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform.

‘To that end, we have been in conversations with several interested parties around these rights over the past several months and expect to have at least two potential options for consideration over the next few weeks.’

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers will begin the season on March 18 against the Cubs in Tokyo

But MLB has claimed this season will be the ‘final year of MLB on ESPN’ in a press release

For their part, ESPN added that the company ‘applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital and social platforms.’

The network added it is ‘open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025.’

However, MLB later called this season the ‘final year of MLB on ESPN’ in a press release.

In addition to Apple, Roku is also paying $10million per season for baseball rights.

ESPN will continue broadcasting Sunday Night Baseball and wild card games per usual throughout this season.

The season begins on March 18-19 with a two-game series between the Dodgers and Cubs in Tokyo.