ESPN, MLBAM Ink New Digital Rights Agreement Through 2013

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

ESPN, MLBAM Agree On New Multi-Year Digital Rights Deal

ESPN and MLBAM have finally agreed on a new digital rights deal, more than seven months after the network exercised an out clause three years into a seven-year, $140M deal. The new deal runs through 2013; financial terms are not yet known. The deal gives ESPN a wide variety of digital rights from existing platforms -- ESPN.com, ESPN360 and ESPN Mobile -- to services ESPN hasn't developed yet. The linchpin of the deal is a bundle of video streaming rights that allows ESPN to stream its Sunday, Monday and Wednesday night baseball telecasts on its broadband service, ESPN360. ESPN started streaming its MLB games on the service Sunday, running "SportsCenter" promos in place of commercials. The streaming video has the same audio and video as TV and runs about three-and-a-half minutes behind the television video. ESPN also picked up the rights to stream other MLB events to which it holds TV rights, such as the Home Run Derby. The deal gives ESPN.com and ESPN's mobile platforms more highlight rights than it had before; it gives ESPN rights to develop interactive applications for TV and online; and it allows ESPN to make its MLB content available on alternative platforms, such as Apple's iTunes and Microsoft Xbox Live. As part of the deal, ESPN also picked up content syndication rights for its digital media syndication partners. The deal covers all international markets, except for some Asian and Pacific Rim markets.