As you will recall, about a year ago MLB and ESPN jointly agreed to void the final three years of their deal.
That would have been it between MLB and the “Worldwide Leader,” but later in 2025 the league and the channel put together another agreement that will keep baseball on ESPN this year, though in somewhat of a different form (for example, the Sunday Night Baseball franchise is moving to NBC).
As part of the new MLB/ESPN agreement, the league licensed the rights to its out-of-market product, MLB.TV, to ESPN.
Drew Lerner of Awful Announcing picks up the story:
Initially, the idea was that fans would not need to use MLB’s app for MLB.tv; they could simply purchase the product through the ESPN app and watch games there. That changed shortly after the deal was announced. For at least the 2026 season, fans will still be able to access MLB.tv directly through MLB’s platforms. But there’s a big catch.
With few exceptions, MLB.tv subscribers will also need to be ESPN Unlimited subscribers to purchase the package. In other words, MLB.tv is now behind a double paywall. You’ll need to purchase MLB.tv, which is priced at $150 per season for new subscribers and $135 for returning subscribers, in addition to the ESPN Unlimited plan, which is $30 per month.
Now, there are some caveats. MLB.tv offers a free month of ESPN Unlimited upon signup. MLB.tv subscribers can cancel the ESPN Unlimited subscription during their free trial and still retain access to MLB.tv throughout the entire season. Likewise, if you already have access to ESPN Unlimited through your cable, satellite, or virtual TV provider, there’s no need to pay the extra $30 per month.
Oh.
Basically, if you are a new subscriber to MLB.TV this year, you’ll have to also sign up for ESPN Unlimited. As noted, at least for 2026 you can cancel ESPN Unlimited within the free trial window (30 days) and still have MLB.TV. It’s unclear whether this will continue for the 2027 season and beyond.
Also:
Additionally, if your MLB.tv subscription is set to be auto-renewed from last season, you will not need an ESPN Unlimited subscription.
So that’s good, at least. According to that, if you are a current MLB.TV subscriber and renewing, this new ESPN subscription requirement won’t apply to you. Again, though, it’s unclear whether this applies to fans who receive MLB.TV as season-ticket holders or get it by being a T-Mobile customer. The T-Mobile deal is still in place, as far as I know, but… who knows for sure, with this new system. It’s also unclear as to what this will do to anyone who buys the single-team version of MLB.TV (for example, if you buy the Cubs-only package).
Drew Lerner concludes:
Regardless, this is insanely confusing for fans. No doubt, several MLB.tv subscribers will be fooled into paying for an ESPN Unlimited subscription they don’t need, either by failing to cancel during the one-month free trial or paying the $30 per month when they already have ESPN Unlimited included in their pay TV bundle.
Absolutely, positively true. This is yet another example of MLB owners and Commissioner Rob Manfred simply pocketing as much money as they can and not caring about the impact on fans, who are, well, their customers. What sort of business does that? (Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question.)
Mainly, I wrote this article as a public service to those of you who subscribe to MLB.TV. Be careful on signup to see what you’re signing up for and if you have to take the “free trial” ESPN Unlimited subscription and don’t want it, make sure you note the date you sign up and cancel within 30 days.
You’re welcome.