Did ESPN Drop MLB for the WNBA? Here’s What’s Actually Happening
A major programming shift at ESPN has sparked intense debate across the sports world.
For more than three decades, Sunday nights on ESPN meant one thing: baseball. Millions of fans tuned in weekly to watch the network’s iconic Sunday Night Baseball broadcast featuring teams from Major League Baseball.
But that era is coming to an end.
Instead of Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN announced it will begin airing primetime games from the Women’s National Basketball Association and the National Women’s Soccer League as part of a new weekly programming block called Women’s Sports Sundays. The change has triggered a wave of confusion online. Some fans believe ESPN is abandoning baseball entirely, while others see the move as part of a broader transformation in sports broadcasting.
The truth, however, is more complex.
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Key Takeaways: Is Major League Baseball Losing ESPN?
- ESPN is ending its long-running national broadcast deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) after the 2025 season, marking the end of a partnership that has lasted more than three decades.
- The network is not replacing MLB directly with women’s leagues, but it is expanding coverage of properties like the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) as part of a broader strategy.
- ESPN executives say the decision reflects rising rights fees and shifting media economics, not a rejection of baseball as a sport.
- Live sports remain critical to ESPN’s future as it prepares for its direct-to-consumer streaming era, where leagues with strong engagement and growth potential are increasingly valuable.
- Women’s sports are experiencing record viewership and sponsorship growth, making them an increasingly important part of ESPN’s programming mix.
- MLB games will still appear on other broadcasters such as Fox Sports, Apple, and NBC, depending on future media rights deals.
The End of an Iconic Broadcast
For more than 35 years, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball was one of the most recognizable programs in American sports television. The broadcast served as MLB’s national showcase game each week, often featuring the league’s biggest teams and stars.
But behind the scenes, the economics of the deal were becoming increasingly difficult for ESPN. The network was reportedly paying about $550 million per year for its MLB rights package. That deal included Sunday Night Baseball along with a smaller number of additional games and programming rights.
As the sports media landscape began shifting toward streaming platforms and digital distribution, ESPN started reassessing whether the contract still made financial sense. Eventually, the network decided to opt out of the agreement three years early.
ESPN Didn’t Leave Baseball
Despite the viral headlines, ESPN is not leaving baseball. In fact, the network’s new agreement with MLB may actually give ESPN more baseball content than before.
Under the revised partnership, ESPN will now receive:
- Around 30 nationally televised MLB games
- Coverage of Memorial Day baseball
- The second-half opener after the All-Star Game
- Exclusive in-market streaming rights for six MLB teams
- More than 150 out-of-market games available for streaming
This dramatically increases ESPN’s streaming inventory, which is particularly valuable as the company continues shifting toward digital platforms. In other words, baseball remains a significant part of ESPN’s content strategy.
The biggest change is simply that Sunday Night Baseball will no longer be part of the package.
The Programming Gap ESPN Had to Fill
Once Sunday Night Baseball left the schedule, ESPN suddenly had a major problem. The network needed to fill a prime-time Sunday evening window for more than 20 weeks each year, especially during the summer months when many major sports leagues are not active. There were limited options available.
Some weekends will feature events such as:
- Hockey’s Stanley Cup Playoffs
- College baseball tournaments
- Special sporting events
However, those events only fill a few weeks of programming. To solve the problem, ESPN turned to content it already owned: women’s sports.
Introducing “Women’s Sports Sundays”
The network’s solution is a new weekly programming block called Women’s Sports Sundays.
The concept is straightforward. Instead of a single league dominating the Sunday night schedule, ESPN will rotate different women’s sports throughout the season.
The programming block will include:
- Primetime WNBA basketball games
- NWSL soccer matches
- Studio shows dedicated to women’s sports coverage
- Additional analysis and highlights
This allows ESPN to build a consistent weekly sports destination while promoting leagues that are currently experiencing rapid growth.
Why Women’s Sports Are Growing Fast
Women’s sports have seen a dramatic increase in visibility and popularity in recent years. Television ratings, social media engagement, and sponsorship deals have all grown significantly.
One of the most visible drivers of this growth has been star athletes like Caitlin Clark, whose transition from college basketball to the WNBA brought massive attention to the league.
Games featuring Clark and other high-profile players have attracted more than 2 million viewers on major broadcasts.
Meanwhile, average WNBA games have drawn around 1.3 million viewers, which is closer to Sunday Night Baseball’s ratings than many people realize.
That kind of viewership growth has made women’s sports increasingly attractive to broadcasters.
The Economics Behind ESPN’s Decision
Ratings are important, but the economics of sports broadcasting often matter even more. Major league sports rights deals have skyrocketed in recent years. Leagues like the NFL and NBA command enormous fees because of their consistent national audiences.
However, these deals can be extremely expensive for networks. By restructuring its MLB agreement, ESPN is paying roughly the same overall cost but receiving far more content across television and streaming platforms.
At the same time, women’s sports rights typically cost much less. That combination creates a scenario where ESPN can potentially achieve better profit margins, even if the ratings are slightly lower.
Advertisers Are Driving the Trend
Another major factor behind the rise of women’s sports is advertiser demand. Many brands are increasingly investing in women’s leagues because they reach audiences that traditional sports programming sometimes misses.
Financial services company Ally Financial, for example, previously committed to directing 90% of its sports advertising budget toward women’s sports programming. As more advertisers pursue similar strategies, the value of women’s sports broadcasting rights continues to increase.
For networks like ESPN, that means the advertising revenue from a dedicated women’s sports showcase could rival — or even exceed — previous programming.
Changing Sports Audiences
The shift also reflects broader demographic trends. Baseball still maintains a loyal fan base, but its audience tends to skew older compared to many other sports.
Women’s sports, on the other hand, are attracting:
- Younger viewers
- Strong female audiences
- Highly engaged social media communities
These factors make the leagues particularly attractive for broadcasters trying to build long-term audiences. For ESPN, investing in these sports now could pay off significantly in the future.
The Online Reaction
Despite the strategic reasons behind the move, the announcement has generated intense reactions across social media.
Some fans worry that removing Sunday Night Baseball from ESPN will reduce the visibility of MLB’s national showcase game.
Others believe the decision reflects a broader cultural shift within sports media.
Supporters of the change argue that expanding coverage of women’s sports is long overdue and could help bring new fans into the industry.
As with many major media decisions, the reality likely lies somewhere in the middle.
The Future of Sports Broadcasting
The transformation of ESPN’s Sunday night programming highlights a larger shift taking place throughout the sports industry.
- Streaming platforms are becoming more important.
- Audience demographics are changing.
- And emerging sports leagues are gaining momentum faster than many analysts expected.
In that environment, broadcasters are constantly reevaluating how to allocate their most valuable programming slots.
ESPN’s decision to replace Sunday Night Baseball with Women’s Sports Sundays may ultimately become one of the first major examples of how networks adapt to this evolving landscape.
The Bottom Line
The viral claim that ESPN is abandoning baseball to promote women’s sports isn’t accurate.
Instead:
- ESPN restructured its MLB deal
- The network lost the Sunday Night Baseball slot
- WNBA and NWSL games are filling the open primetime window
Baseball remains part of ESPN’s programming, but the network is also betting on the rapid rise of women’s sports to shape the future of sports television. And if current trends continue, that bet could prove to be a smart one.
