ESPN Major League Baseball

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(Redirected from
Wednesday Night Baseball
)
ESPN Major League Baseball
StarringVarious personalities (see below)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time3 hours
Original release
NetworkESPN
ReleaseApril 9, 1990 (1990-04-09) –
present

ESPN Major League Baseball (also referred to as MLB on ESPN) is an American presentation of live Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by ESPN. ESPN's MLB broadcasts have also aired on sister networks and platforms ESPN2, ABC and ESPN+.

ESPN's MLB coverage debuted on April 9, 1990 with three

Home Run Derby played the week of the All-Star Game. In 2014, ESPN returned to broadcasting the Major League Baseball postseason, and has held the exclusive rights to the entire Wild Card Series
since 2022.

ESPN also airs a weekly highlight show called

ET
on Sundays as a lead-in to Sunday Night Baseball; previously it was a daily program until 2017, when layoffs cut back the show's airing to Sundays.

With ESPN's most recent contract signed in 2021, ESPN Major League Baseball is guaranteed to remain on air through the 2025 season, at which point both ESPN and the MLB have opt-outs.[1] If neither side opts out, the contract will run through the 2028 season.

.

History

Former ESPN Major League Baseball logo, used from 2006 to 2011.

Since ESPN first received MLB telecast rights, it has become traditional for the network to make an effort to cover live historic moments in the sport. For example, in 2007, ESPN and ESPN2 added several telecasts when Barry Bonds chased Hank Aaron's record for most home runs in an MLB career. ESPN had the national telecasts on August 4 when Bonds tied Aaron with number 755 and on August 7, 2007 when he hit number 756. ESPN was also the broadcaster of the final game at the original Yankee Stadium as a part of Sunday Night Baseball with Jon Miller and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. It also showed Chris Burke's 18th-inning walk-off homer to end the 2005 NLDS series in favor of the Houston Astros against the Atlanta Braves. The St. Louis Cardinals swept the San Diego Padres in the other NLDS Series.

Also, the network has been given permission to interrupt regular programming, when allowed, to show attempts at new records or significant milestones live. Examples include three cut-ins from its coverage of the first

TBS exclusive windows, it was allowed to show an in-progress highlight of Alex Rodriguez
's 500th career home run in August 2007, as this was on a Saturday afternoon before Fox went on the air with its game coverage.

1990s

On January 5, 1989,

Wednesday Night Baseball and doubleheaders on Tuesdays and Fridays), as well as multiple games on Opening Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day
.

On April 15, 1990, ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball debuted with the experienced

rating. That was double the number that ESPN as a whole was averaging at the time (1.5). By 1998, ESPN enjoyed its largest baseball audience ever (a 9.5 Nielsen rating) as Mark McGwire
hit his 61st home run of the season. When ESPN first broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, they would show at least one game from every ballpark. Also, every team was guaranteed an appearance. It was essentially, the television equivalent to a cross country stadium tour.

In 1994, ESPN renewed its baseball contract for six years (through the 1999 season). The new deal was worth $42.5 million per year and $255 million overall. The deal was ultimately voided after the 1995 season and ESPN was pretty much forced to restructure their contract. In 1995, ESPN broadcast the American League West tie-breaker game between the Seattle Mariners and California Angels with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan making the call.[2]

In

EDT
, with the broadcast networks telecasting the prime time game.

In 1998, ESPN broadcast the National League Wild Card tie-breaker game between the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants.[5][6] Like the American League West tie-breaker game in 1995, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were on the call for ESPN.[7][8]

In

Wednesday, August 25 with Detroit Tigers playing against the Seattle Mariners.[9] The second was on Tuesday, September 21 with the Atlanta Braves playing against the New York Mets. Later that year, ESPN broadcast the National League Wild Card tie-breaker game (this time between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds) with Miller and Morgan once again on the call.[10][11]

2000s

ESPN and ESPN2 had contracts (which were signed in 2000 and ran through 2005) to show selected weeknight and Sunday Night Baseball games, along with Opening Day and holiday games and selected Division Series playoff games. The contracts with ESPN were worth $141.8 million per year and $851 million overall.

In 2002, Disney bought Fox Family, which had aired Thursday night games and some Division Series games in 2000 and 2001 as part of the Fox Sports television contract. ESPN added those games to its package, shifting the Thursday night games to weekday afternoon DayGame broadcasts. The play-by-play commentators for ESPN DayGame were Gary Thorne or Jon Sciambi along with Steve Phillips, and Steve Stone as color analysts. However, because of existing contractual obligations, the 2002 Division Series games were required to be broadcast on the renamed ABC Family. Those broadcasts used ESPN announcers, graphics, and music. The following season they aired on ESPN.

2006

On September 14, 2005, ESPN signed an eight-year contract with Major League Baseball that began with the 2006 season, renewing their rights to Sunday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball, with the late (10 p.m. ET) Wednesday night game replaced by a regular weekly Monday Night Baseball telecast instead. The network also dropped special coverage of Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day games, though Memorial Day and Labor Day were still included in the Monday night coverage.

While Sunday Night Baseball remained exclusive, ESPN's Monday and Wednesday telecasts were mostly nonexclusive, meaning the games were also televised by each club's local broadcasters, while ESPN's broadcasts were blacked out in the participating teams' local markets. Previously, ESPN would carry an alternate telecast (usually a simulcast of another game's local broadcast) for home-team markets which were blacked out, but those were phased out, with ESPNEWS replacing the feed.

On July 25, 2006,

out-of-court settlement
.

Weeks later,

brain aneurysm
. Gammons returned to ESPN in early September.

The weekday afternoon DayGame telecasts continued through the 2006 season as they were still covered under the separate contract inherited from Fox Family. With that contract expiring at the end of the season, the last DayGame broadcast was on September 30, 2006. The expiration of that contract also ended ESPN's involvement in broadcasting the postseason for the time being, as Fox had actually retained right-of-first-refusal of the postseason part of the contract in the sale, and chose to exercise that right to add more Division Series games. ESPN's last postseason broadcast under the contract was one of the 2006 American League Division Series.

ESPN telecasts in 2006, posted an average of 1,115,000 household impressions, up 27% when compared to 2005's 875,000. The corresponding 1.2 rating this year marks a 20% increase over the 1.0 average in 2005. ESPN2's baseball telecasts have averaged 704,000 households, an increase of 34% over 2005's 525,000. Ratings on ESPN2 went up 33% (0.8 vs. 0.6).

2007

Because of the reduction of ESPN's weekly schedule to three games, ESPN released numerous commentators from the network, including Jeff Brantley, Tino Martinez, Steve Stone and Eric Karros.

On April 1, for the season-opening game between the

ESPN HD in 2004
.

During the week of the

Eastern time
but was delayed for nearly two hours, by which point ESPN, in apparent violation of its contract with MLB, went ahead and revealed the rosters anyway. ESPN later agreed to promote playoff coverage on TBS and Fox (alongside its own radio coverage) in return for Baseball Tonight going on the air shortly after each night's games concluded.

ESPN pre-empted part of the Kansas StateAuburn college football game on September 1 to show the end of the no-hitter thrown by Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz.

2008

ESPN2 showed the season-opening games in

ESPNHD
was unaffected.)

On March 30, ESPN showed the first-ever game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves on a walk-off home run by Ryan Zimmerman.

On May 4, ESPN introduced enhanced updates targeting viewers who play fantasy baseball. It shows season batting statistics for the current batter on each potential count and updates batting average and other selected stats after the at-bat concludes.

2010s

2010

Starting with the April 3 season opener between the

2010 College World Series telecasts. ESPN's coverage of the Little League World Series
also retained the 2007 graphics until midway through, and then adopted the current (2010) graphics package.

Baseball Tonight, a daily highlight show aired on ESPN during the baseball season, likewise introduced new graphics adopted from SportsCenter in June 2010.

2011

The ESPN Major League Baseball score box was slightly modified beginning with the opening day game between the

Major League Baseball on Fox
. The pitch speed and count are now fixed below the bases graphic. Also, the area around the bases graphic and ball, strike, and out counter is slightly translucent.

Beginning with the

TBS
would follow suit in adjusting their graphics to the 16:9 aspect ratio.

2012

Previous logo used from 2012 to 2017.

The score box and other graphics were carried over from 2011, but a new logo for all ESPN MLB presentations was unveiled at the start of the season.[14] The ESPN logo was fixed on a CGI baseball, with the words 'Major League Baseball' (or Baseball Tonight and Sunday, Monday or Wednesday Night Baseball) in a stylized neon light surrounding it. A 2-D version is also used on print ads or on secondary program IDs. The graphics would stay virtually the same for the next three seasons.

On August 28, Major League Baseball and ESPN agreed to an eight-year, $5.6 billion contract extension, the largest broadcasting deal in Major League Baseball history. It gave ESPN up to 90 regular-season games, one of the two Wild Card games that will rotate between American League and National League teams each year, and the rights to all regular-season tiebreaker games.[15][16]

2015

For the 2015 season, ESPN introduced a new on-air appearance for baseball. Among its changes were a new, persistent K-Zone Live graphic, consisting of a faded white rectangle that is overlaid live atop the

glowing puck" from its NHL coverage.[18][19]

2017

In the 2017 season, ESPN introduced a new camera angle known as "Front Row Cam"; it is designed to provide a "low-home" camera angle, and utilizes a cylindrical camera pointed vertically at a mirror inside an enclosure positioned along the wall behind home plate. During the American League Wild Card Game, ESPN also introduced a new "immersive" K-Zone 3D component, which allows the data to be rendered into a virtual stadium environment to be viewed at different perspectives.[20]

2018

The 2018 season saw a revamp of ESPN's lead commentary team, with Matt Vasgersian succeeding Dan Shulman, and Alex Rodriguez joining as analyst. ESPN also anticipated increased use of the Front Row Cam on Sunday Night Baseball, and the immersive K-Zone 3D feature being employed on all games (a move enabled by ESPN's full adoption of on-site graphics and replay systems operated remotely from its main studios in Bristol). ESPN also unveiled a major on-air rebranding for its MLB coverage.[21]

2020s

The 2020 regular season was delayed by four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt Vasgersian and Alex Rodriguez would broadcast all of ESPN's Sunday night games from a studio at their Bristol, Connecticut headquarters.[22] Also in July 2020, Major League Baseball announced that they would be expanding the playoffs,[23]

The 2020 postseason introduced an additional "Wild Card Series" round, featuring eight best-of-three series preceding the Division Series. ESPN acquired the rights to seven of the series, with one replacing the Wild Card Game it already carried (the last series was allocated to TBS to replace the Wild Card Game it held the rights to). On September 28, 2020, it was announced that ABC would carry at least four Wild Card Series games, marking ABC's first national MLB broadcast since 1995.[24]

In 2021, ESPN renewed its rights through the 2028 season, with opt-outs after the 2025 season. ESPN dropped most of its non-exclusive weeknight broadcasts, focusing primarily on Sunday Night Baseball instead. The network continues to hold rights to at least 30 exclusive regular season games per season, including Sunday Night Baseball and Opening Day games, along with some weeknight games in the second half of the season. ESPN also received the rights to produce alternate telecasts on its sister networks, as well as simulcasts and expanded content on ESPN+, and the ability to air selected games on ABC. The contract also gives ESPN full rights to all postseason Wild Card Series, which were made a permanent part of the postseason that year. In 2022, ESPN aired exclusive Thursday games on Opening Day and the Thursday following the all-star break, as well as two exclusive Wednesday games and one exclusive Monday game during the summer.[25][26][27]

For the 2024 season, ESPN acquired the rights to air two

MLB Mexico Series, in addition to their 30 exclusive games.[28]

Technology

Through the years, ESPN has enhanced its Major League Baseball coverage with the introduction and implementation of innovative technology. Which include:

  • April 1995 – ESPN debuted in-game box scores during Major League Baseball telecasts. Hitting, pitching and fielding stats from the game are shown along the bottom of the screen three times per game.
  • May/June
    College World Series
    , adding it to major league coverage the following year.
  • April 1998 – ESPN debuts BatTrack, which measures the bat speed of hitters.
  • April 15, 2001ESPN Dead Center debuted on Sunday Night Baseball with Texas vs. Oakland. This new camera angle, directly behind the pitcher, is used to provide true depiction of inside/outside pitch location and is used in certain parks in conjunction with K Zone.
  • July 1, 2001K Zone officially debuted on Sunday Night Baseball.
  • April 7, 2002 – ESPN became the first network to place a microphone on a player during a regular-season baseball game. "Player Mic" was worn by Oakland catcher Ramón Hernández (who also wore "MaskCam") and taped segments were heard.
  • May 26, 2002 – "UmpireCam" debuted, worn by Matt Hollowell behind the plate in the New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox telecast.
  • March 30, 2003 – ESPNHD, a high-definition simulcast service of ESPN, debuted with the first regular-season MLB game of the season - Texas at Anaheim.
  • April 2004 – ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball telecasts added a fantasy baseball bottom line, updating viewers on the stats for their rotisserie league players at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour.
  • April 10, 2005 – "SkyCam" premiered during Sunday Night Baseball. "SkyCam" is mounted more than 20 feet above the stands in foul territory and travels down a designated base path (first or third base line, from behind home plate to the foul pole), capturing overhead views of the action. The remote-controlled camera can zoom, pan and tilt.
  • April 2, 2006 – A handheld camera brings viewers closer to the action for in-game live shots of home run celebrations, managers approaching the mound and more.
  • May 1, 2006 – 'K Zone 2.0' debuted on Monday Night Baseball.

Ratings

Division Series (2003-2006)[29]
Wild Card Game/Series (2014–present)
  • 2014 National League Wild Card Game: 3.6 (5.6 million viewers)
  • 2015 American League Wild Card Game: 4.9 (7.6 million viewers)
  • 2016 National League Wild Card Game: 4.5 (7.4 million viewers)
  • 2017 American League Wild Card Game: 4.2 (6.7 million viewers)
  • 2018 National League Wild Card Game: 4.2 (7.0 million viewers)
  • 2019 American League Wild Card Game: 2.8 (4.5 million viewers)
  • 2020 Wild Card Series:
    • Game 3 Cardinals/Padres: 1.5 (2.6 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Yankees/Indians: 1.5 (2.6 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Yankees/Indians: 1.5 (2.5 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Cardinals/Padres: 1.4 (2.3 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Astros/Twins (ABC): 1.4 (2.2 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Marlins/Cubs (ABC): 1.4 (2.2 million viewers)
    • Game 3 White Sox/A's: 1.2 (1.9 milliom viewers)
    • Game 3 Brewers/Dodgers: 1.1 (1.8 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Marlins/Cubs (ABC): 1.1 (1.5 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Reds/Braves: 0.9 (1.5 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Reds/Braves: 0.9 (1.4 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Cardinals/Padres: 0.8 (1.3 milliom viewers)
    • Game 2 White Sox/A's: 0.8 (1.2 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Brewers/Dodgers (ESPN2): 0.6 (1.1 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Brewers/Dodgers (ESPN2): 0.5 (1.0 million viewers)
    • Game 1 White Sox/A's: 0.6 (953 thousand viewers)
    • Game 2 Astros/Twins (ESPN2): 0.4 (731 thousand viewers)
  • 2021 American League Wild Card Game: 4.5 (7.7 million viewers)
  • 2022 Wild Card Series
    • Game 3 Padres/Mets: 2.0 (3.9 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Padres/Mets: 2.0 (3.6 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Padres/Mets: 1.8 (3.5 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Phillies/Cardinals (ABC): 1.8 (3.1 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Mariners/Blue Jays: 1.4 (2.6 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Phillies/Cardinals (ESPN2): 1.3 (2.5 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Rays/Guardians (ESPN2): 1.3 (2.3 million viewers
    • Game 1 Mariners/Blue Jays: 1.0 (1.8 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Rays/Guardians: 0.8 (1.4 million viewers)
  • 2023 Wild Card Series
    • Game 2 Marlins/Phillies: 1.8 (3.2 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Marlins/Phillies: 1.7 (3.0 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Rangers/Rays (ABC): 1.3 (2.2 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Rangers/Rays (ABC): 1.3 (2.2 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Blue Jays/Twins: 1.1 (2.0 million viewers)
    • Game 2 Diamondbacks/Brewers (ESPN2): 1.1 (1.9 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Diamondbacks/Brewers (ESPN2): 1.1 (1.9 million viewers)
    • Game 1 Blue Jays/Twins: 1.0 (1.7 million viewers)

Personalities

See also

  • Major League Baseball on Fox
  • Major League Baseball on TBS
  • MLB Network

References

  1. ^ Lucia, Joe. "ESPN, MLB each have an opt-out in rights deal following 2025 season".
  2. ^ Street, Jim (1995-10-02). "JOHNSON'S TASK TODAY: BEST ANGELS, OR M'S STAY HOME". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  3. ^ Edwards, Craig (February 26, 2020). "MLB's Winning and Losing Efforts to Conquer TV, Part I: The Strike". Fan Graphs.
  4. .
  5. ^ Gildea, William (September 27, 1998). "Cubs Even With Giants; Sosa Still at 66; Cubs Keep Pace With Giants; Cubs 3, Astros 2". Washington Post. p. D01.
  6. ^ Dubow, Josh (September 29, 1998). "Baseball takes bite out of football audience". Associated Press.
  7. ^ Martzke, Rudy (September 28, 1998). "Football left behind by baseball's drama". USA Today. p. 2C.
  8. ^ Martzke, Rudy (September 29, 1998). "Morgan's itinerary keeps him on move". USA Today. p. 4C.
  9. ^ "Media Notes". Sports Business Daily. Advance Publications. August 25, 1999. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  10. ^ Romano, John (October 4, 1999). "Mets, Reds in mad scramble for playoff spot Series: BASEBALL POST SEASON". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C.
  11. ^ Baker, Jim (October 3, 1999). "Doubt about it — ESPN's Miller questions Sox, Tribe". Boston Herald. p. B18.
  12. ^ "Reynolds out at ESPN". ESPN. 2006-07-25. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  13. ^ Marchand, Andrew (2006-07-26). "Accused of sexual harassment: Reynolds wants ESPN job back". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  14. ^ Karp, Austin (9 October 2012). "MLB Regular Season Sees Record-Low Viewership On Fox, TBS; ESPN Worst Since '05". SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  15. ^ "MLB, ESPN reach new 8-year deal". ESPN. August 28, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  16. ^ Nuñez, Gabriela (2012-08-28). "ESPN, MLB Reach Eight-Year Multiplatform Rights Extension". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  17. ^ "ESPN Commits to K-Zone Live on Every Pitch for MLB Coverage". Sports Video Group. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  18. ^ "ESPN's K-Zone Live upsets baseball purists, fans react on Twitter". Denver Post. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  19. ^ "ESPN has a new strike zone graphic, baseball fans foam at the mouth with hatred". Fansided. 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  20. ^ "MLB Postseason Preview: ESPN To Deploy Front Row Cam, Mound Mics, K-Zone 3D at AL Wild Card Game". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  21. ^ "2018 MLB Preview: ESPN Launches New Booth, Graphics on SNB; Expands Use of Front Row Cam, K-Zone 3D". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  22. ^ Koster, Kyle (17 July 2020). "ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Hoping to Gain a Homefield Advantage in Bristol". The Big Lead. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  23. ^ Haring, Bruce (July 23, 2020). "Major League Baseball Expands Playoffs To 16 Teams, Eight Wild Card Series – ESPN, TBS Get TV Rights". Deadline.
  24. ^ Brown, Maury. "MLB Postseason Games Returning To ABC For First Time In 25 Years". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  25. ^ Castrovince, Anthony (March 10, 2022). "Everything you need to know about '22 season". MLB.com. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  26. ^ Harrigan, Thomas (May 13, 2021). "MLB, ESPN extend deal through 2028". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  27. ^ "ESPN extends deal to air MLB games through '28". ESPN.com. May 13, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  28. ^ "News: Arena Group, MLB international games, Netflix tennis". Sports Media Watch. December 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  29. ^ MLB Division Series Numbers Game (2003-2010) - Paulsen, Sports Media Watch, 30 September 2011

External links