Latest in Major League Baseball

The 2023 Major League Baseball season opens Thursday, boasting a new official advertising slogan: “Baseball is Something Else.” In terms of media presence, that phrase definitely rings true. This season, a sport known for its decades of history on radio and TV will see direct-to-consumer streaming…

Maury Wills, whose long tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers began the year after the team moved to the West Coast in the late 1950s and included three World Series championships, died September 19 at his home in Sedona, AZ, the team said Tuesday. He was 89. Wills, a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove-winning…

Vin Scully, the radio and TV voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 67 years who in the process became synonymous with the city, died Tuesday, the Dodgers organization said. He was 94. "We have lost an icon," Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in the statement. "The Dodgers Vin Scully was one of the greatest…

Fast-rising digital sports media player Jomboy Media has hired Andrew Patterson as its first CEO. In announcing the hire, the company described the former Major League Baseball official as “a proven executive with a history of navigating the digital sports world.” It added that he is someone "who shares our vision of…

UPDATED with official announcement and details: In Major League Baseball’s latest streaming foray, NBCUniversal’s Peacock will carry a slate of 18 games on Sundays in May. The arrangement follows Apple’s Friday night doubleheader announcement. Both deals had been reported last month, but NBCU officially confirmed the…

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Rob Weisbord said he is “cautiously optimistic” about landing more Major League Baseball streaming rights despite public friction between the parties in recent months. “There are ongoing conversations. I’m cautiously optimistic, now that they got past the lockout,” he said, alluding to MLB’s…

UPDATED, 12:40 PM: And suddenly there’s joy in Mudville. Major League Baseball owners and players have struck a tentative deal to end the three-month lockout — a day after they appeared to have been at an impasse. Both sides still must ratify the new five-year collective-bargaining deal, which would set April as…

Apple is making a big move in sports, announcing Friday Night Baseball, a weekly doubleheader with live pre and postgame shows available in eight countries on Apple TV+. The live streams will begin as soon as the Major League Baseball season gets under way, though that won’t be anytime soon. Due to an ongoing labor…

As negotiations on a new labor agreement continue to drag, Major League Baseball is pulling out the big gun threats. On Wedneday, a management spokesperson said MLB will begin canceling regular-season games if the league and the Players Association can’t come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement by…

Endeavor Group Holdings has announced plans to buy nine minor league baseball teams, including affiliates of the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. The company has created a new subsidiary, Diamond Baseball Holdings, and said it is in “late stage negotiations with a handful of other significant…

Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley said the company’s regional sports networks division has “ample liquidity” to keep operating and reaffirmed plans for a major streaming launch next spring. Speaking with analysts during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Ripley said the company currently has…

The New York Mets, which were acquired before this season by billionaire financier Steve Cohen, have brought in Range Media Partners to “evolve” the baseball team’s brand. Range is a startup management firm founded a year ago with initial funding from Cohen’s Connecticut-based venture fund, Point72 Ventures. The…