When I ran a story on Baseball Prospectus in July saying that MLB’s national television contracts could be renewed ahead of their end of 2013 expiration, I assumed we’d be looking the off-season, or possibly early into the 2013 MLB season before it would happen. But, last week, ESPN became the first to jump into the fray by announcing that they had reached a new 8-year, $5.6 billion deal. All told, it meant that MLB would see $700 million annually as opposed to the $306 million they had prior.

It is the largest deal ever for Major League Baseball and set the bar going forward with the league’s other two broadcast partners, FOX and TBS.

So, when will those extension be announced? Soon, according to John Ourand of the SportsBusiness Journal. According to the SBJ, FOX co-presidents Randy Freer and Eric Shanks and executive vice president Larry Jones have been meeting extensively with MLB to retain MLB programming. There has been considerable speculation that with NBC Sports Network now in the mix, they would be vying to fill programming with a major sports league, and with MLB up for renewal, it seems a perfect fit.

According to the SBJ report, the FOX execs are looking to “switch Speed from a motorsports channel to an all-sports channel” but to do that they need sports programming to fill the hole, and MLB fits that bill. As further reported:

So Fox’s bid would be a mix. It would place the World Series and most of the league championship games on its broadcast network. The earlier playoff rounds and most regular-season games, including some Saturday “Game of the Week” telecasts, would be on the cable channel.

Sources close to the discussions said Fox’s initial offer last week was not high enough. The company was following ESPN, which set the market when it agreed to double the price of its package. That means that Fox would have to approach an average of $800 million a year for two available packages. Fox now pays $257.1 million for its package, while Turner pays $148.6 million for its package.

The story gets more interesting in that MLB is also talking with TBS and that the deal would be similar in that the plans would role the current FOX and TBS offerings into one package. The aforementioned NBC Sports is still in the mix, and would do look to do the same: roll the FOX and TBS games into one package.

On the edges is MLB Network which is continuing to branch its live programming out, and how postseason play will be covered. As part of the new deal, ESPN gets back into broadcasting postseason play with one of the Wild Card playoff games. Reportedly, ESPN asked for more playoff games, but MLB declined at the moment.

What is known is this…

While I projected as much as a 175% increase in television revenues in the new deals, that is likely too high. If the SBJ story holds water and a combined deal to cover the FOX and TBS programming hits $800 million annually, MLB will see total national television revenues of $1.5 billion annually, up 111% from the $711.7 million they receive now.

How will this affect the individual clubs?

With MLB’s national media rights revenues part of the league’s central funds that are distributed evenly to all 30 clubs, each one will could see $50 million annually, up from $23.72 million, now. That could give each club the ability to be competitive for a star-caliber free agent, and then some.

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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Major League Baseball and ESPN today announced the largest broadcast deal in league history with a new eight-year, $5.6 billion agreement ($700 million annually) that will carry their longstanding relationship into its fourth decade.  The agreement sets the standard going forward for Major League Baseball broadcasting as ESPN’s annual rights fee will increase by 100% over its current deals ($306 million annually), marking a new all-time record for an MLB broadcasting deal. The deal grants ESPN, which first began televising Major League Baseball games in 1990, a significant increase in studio and game content, including the right to broadcast up to 90 regular season MLB games per year across the ESPN networks beginning in 2014 and running through the 2021 season.  ESPN will continue to telecast three Major League Baseball windows each week including Monday nights, Wednesday nights, and the nationally exclusive “Sunday Night Baseball” franchise. 

Not accounting for any expenses in the deal, each of the 30 clubs in the league would share equally in the revenue which comes to $23.33 million annually, up from $10.2 million in the deal prior.

In addition, ESPN will once again televise Postseason baseball, beginning in 2014 with one of the two Wild Card Games presented by Budweiser.  ESPN will alternate airing the American League and National League Wild Card Games each year.  Also starting in 2014, ESPN will have the rights to all potential regular season tiebreaker games.  This new agreement covers television and radio rights to MLB programming both in the U.S. and internationally, and will include expanded hours of Baseball Tonight and other ancillary baseball programming across ESPN platforms.  In addition, ESPN MLB game telecasts and other baseball programming will be available via ESPN3.com and the Watch ESPN app.  ESPN has also made a commitment to showcase each of the 30 MLB Clubs at least once per season in a live game telecast.

Commissioner Selig was more than happy with the deal reached.

 “On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am thrilled that we will continue our long-standing relationship with ESPN far into the future.  The level of ESPN’s commitment to baseball – both financially and through its expanded content – is a testament to the strength of our game and its unprecedented popularity among our fans,” Selig said.  “Through its various networks and other media platforms, ESPN offers baseball fans more avenues to experience the game than ever before, and we’re thankful for their continued support.”

ESPN President John Skipper said: “We’re thrilled to renew our long-standing agreement with Major League Baseball into the next decade. It’s a great property. The enormous scope of what we acquired will provide fans with more live baseball and more ways to access baseball content than ever before.”

          Additional details of the agreement include:

• ESPN will continue to have exclusive television rights to certain MLB All-Star Week events including the State Farm Home Run Derby and Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game.

• A nationally exclusive Opening Night national telecast, as well as full coverage of Opening Day and national holiday games (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day).

• Up to 10 Spring Training games each season.

• In each year of the agreement, ESPN will air six one-hour specials created by Major League Baseball Productions, the Emmy Award-winning television and video production division of Major League Baseball.

A larger question was how the digital aspect of the deal impacts MLB Advanced Media who oversees MLB.com. A cash-cow for the league, questions of competition come with the new agreement.

Addressing the media, Selig said he has been amazed at the growth of MLBAM and that “you won’t recognize it” in ten to twelve years, a reference to its growth.

Bob Bowman, the CEO of MLBAM said, “We couldn’t ask for a better partner and competitor than ESPN,” adding that he did not see it adversely impacting the digital rights arm of baseball.

And then there’s the issue of the exclusivity agreements that impact the league’s blackout policy via the MLB Extra Innings television package or MLB.TV, the now decade-old digital streaming of games. With the increase to 90 games a season, more Sunday games will be blacked out nationally. And while the blackout issue on Sunday evenings for ESPN has been difficult, it is nationally televised Saturday day games on FOX that has created the biggest blackout issue. To that, ESPN is really the first of three national broadcast deals that will be addressed shortly as the deals with FOX and TBS still have yet to be addressed. It could be as late asthe end of 2013 when the contracts expire before those addressed.

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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With roughly a quarter of the season left to go, it’s a good time to check to see how teams are doing in the ticket selling department (see details posted below). The Phillies, Giants, and Red Sox continue to pace the league by selling just about every ticket. Two teams that appear on highest attendance, percentage of capacity, and sales increase are the Rangers and Tigers who continue to have sales gains even though their attendance is already very strong. Wild card contenders Pittsburgh (6%) and Tampa Bay (5%) do not even rank in the top increases which just goes to show how great of a year the league is having at the box office. Nineteen clubs are flat or experiencing increases in attendance as we enter the final month. Overall, league attendance is up 2.2 million with a strong shot to end the season at 76 million fans. With better weather, increased value deals from teams, and the use of dynamic pricing the league is having a banner year at the box office. Other highlights for the league include the Padres being up 3% even though they have had a dismal year on the field and the Athletics up 9% thanks to Wild Card chase.

A few things that are worth keeping an eye on as we enter September.

One will certainly be whether the Red Sox can continue their sellout streak. With 11 home games remaining the only challenges for the Sox would be a Tuesday and Wednesday set of games against the Rays as the rest are weekend tilts with the Yankees. The Red Sox streak will survive 3 years of no postseason for Boston and have 792 sellouts entering 2013. Another race to watch at the box office is overall attendance between Philadelphia, the Yankees, and Texas.

The Phillies recently announced the end of their own sellout streak -- a fallout of the disappointing season -- with two teams seem to be catching up at the box office. The Yankees seemed destined to be #1 at the end of the season as they continue their pennant chase. Mathematically it would be very tough for Texas to catch up given the number of weekday games remaining on their schedule.

Another storyline to keep an eye on is the attendance battle between the Dodgers and Giants as they go head to head for the NL West. The Dodgers seemed destined to overtake the Giants in attendance with their new additions as Los Angeles us a mere 300 fans behind with 18 home games to go. The Giants just can’t compete with the 56,000 seating capacity that Dodger Stadium can hold. It’s worth noting that the Dodgers are still about 5,000 fans a game from their peak in 2009 when they averaged 46,440 and lead baseball in attendance and given the new player additions it appears they are headed back in the right direction. With school back in session it’s always fascinating to see just how low non-competing teams without high season ticket bases can go. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in Colorado, Cleveland, Seattle, and Houston over the next month as well. For further detail on attendance leaders see the leader boards below:

Top 10 in AVG Ballpark Capacity

Philadelphia Phillies (102%)

Boston Red Sox (101%)

San Francisco Giants (100%)

St. Louis Cardinals (93%)

Detroit Tigers (92%)

Minnesota Twins (89%)

Chicago Cubs (89%)

Texas Rangers (88%)

New York Yankees (87%)

Milwaukee Brewers (84%)

Top in 10 AVG. Attendance

Philadelphia Phillies 44,353

New York Yankees 43,745

Texas Rangers 43,076

San Francisco Giants 41,744

LA Dodgers 41,475

St. Louis Cardinals 40,705

Detroit Tigers 38,070

LA Angels 37,634

Boston Red Sox 37,598

Chicago Cubs 36,752

Top 10 Percent Increase over LY YTD

Miami Marlins (55%)

Washington Nationals (28%)

Toronto Blue Jays (21%)

Detroit Tigers (21%)

Texas Rangers (20%)

Baltimore Orioles (18%)

Kansas City Royals (14%)

Los Angeles Dodgers (12%)

Arizona Diamondbacks (12%)

Oakland Athletics (9%)

**All data as of 8/26 via ESPN and Baseball-Reference

David Simmons is a graduate of the University of Central Florida who worked in the front office of the Los Angeles Dodgers over 4 seasons and has a decade of ticketing experience.. He serves as CFO for Players For The Planet and currently resides in Baltimore. You can follow David on Twitter @davidesimmons

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UPDATE: There was a salary calculation mistake in the original post. The source data for the correction has been provided
With the mega-trade that went down on Saturday between the Red Sox and Dodgers, we may have to redefine the word “blockbuster.” Today on Baseball Prospectus, I break it all down (see Bizball: The Priciest Trade Ever Made). Here’s ten must-know details around the trade, via the article:

1. The Red Sox are moving a total of $262.5 million off the books
2. No trade has ever involved two players who each had more than $100 million remaining on their contracts (Gonzalez and Crawford).
3. The only other trade in which a player was traded with at least $100 million left on his contract was Alex Rodriguez going from the Rangers to the Yankees in February of 2004.
4. In terms of the number of players involved, it’s the most in Dodger history
5. It ties as the second-most in Red Sox history (trades with nine players have now happened three times, on October 11, 1971 the club traded 10): Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud, George Scott, and Don Pavletich to the Milwaukee Brewers for Marty Pattin, Lew Krausse, Tommy Harper, and minor leaguer Pat Skrable.
6. For 2012, the Dodgers had an Opening Day player payroll of $105,419,833
7. If the Dodgers were to exercise all of their club options for Juan Rivera, Todd Coffey, and Matt Treanor, when added to the $58.25 million in salary that Gonzalez ($21 million), Crawford ($20 million), Beckett ($15.75 million), and Punto ($1.5 million) add to the picture, payroll next season would be $241.7 million. Throw in dead money from Manny Ramirez ($8.333 million) and Andruw Jones ($3.2 million) and you get $194,983,333
8. The Luxury Tax threshold for 2013 is $178 million.
9. Average attendance for the Dodgers is up 4,572 per game to 41,469 from 36,897 at the same point last season.
10. The Dodgers finished under 3 million in paid attendance last season for the first time since 1995.

Purple represents option years
See a mountain of details at the Baseball Prospectus link: Bizball: The Priciest Trade Ever Made

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, one of the most revered figures in Los Angeles sports history, will return to the broadcast booth for an unprecedented 64th season in 2013, it was announced. Scully will again call all Dodger home and road games in California and Arizona.

“The new ownership of the Dodgers has revitalized the city, the team, the fans and myself,” Scully said. “I am so convinced of their great purpose and leadership that I eagerly look forward to joining them in pursuit of the next Dodgers championship.”

Widely regarded as the finest sportscaster of all time, Scully’s 63 years of service mark the longest tenure in his field. While he calls all nine innings of the team's television broadcasts on PRIME TICKET and KCAL 9, the first three innings of each of his games are also simulcast on AM 570 Fox Sports LA.

“The Dodgers are ecstatic to have Vin back with the team in 2013,” said Dodger Chairman and Owner Mark Walter. “Vin is a treasure to the Dodgers, baseball and the city of Los Angeles and having him continuing his work in the broadcast booth next season means a great deal to all of us.”

“It was a treat to be able to listen to Chick Hearn through my years with the Lakers,” said Dodger owner Earvin Johnson, “and it’s been great to be able to listen to Vin work his magic in the broadcast booth since I came to Los Angeles in 1979. Generations of Angelenos have been blessed to have these Hall of Famers in their midst.”

“We’re thrilled to know that in our quest to heighten the fan experience at Dodger Stadium, the fan experience everywhere Vin’s voice can be heard will continue to be maximized through at least the 2013 season,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten.

Scully began his professional baseball broadcasting career in 1950 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. During his unmatched career, he has called three perfect games, 25 no-hitters, 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games. Iconic moments called by Scully include Kirk Gibson’s miraculous Game 1 homer in the 1988 World Series, Hank Aaron’s record-setting 715th home run, Sandy Koufax’s four no-hitters, including a perfect game, and the scoreless-inning streaks of Dodger greats Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser.

When Scully began broadcasting, the Dodgers had yet to win a World Series. Three years later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest person to ever broadcast a World Series game. In 1955, he had his most memorable moment behind the microphone, as he called the Dodgers' first and only championship in Brooklyn.

In Los Angeles, Scully called Dodger World Championships in 1959, ’63, ’65, ’81 and ’88 and he was elected the top sportscaster of the 20th century by the non-profit American Sportscasters Association.

Source: Los Angeles Dodgers

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon has received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Testosterone, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension of Colon is effective immediately.

Colon did not try to make excuses for the positive test through a statement released through the MLB Players Association

“I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A's.  I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the Joint Drug Program,” Colon said.

Since last year, three Major League players have tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. Colon, along with the Giants’ Melky Cabrera and NL MVP Ryan Braun. Braun’s suspension was overturned when an independent arbiter ruled that the chain of custody was broke with his test sample.

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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