MLB is reportedly close to finalizing a broadcast extension with Turner Sports worth $480 million per year.
As Major League Baseball and the players' union continue their standoff and the days of a potential 2020 season wane, the league is reportedly close to reaching a new deal with Turner Sports on broadcasting rights for the postseason.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, the specifics of the agreement are not known, though it is believed to include a substantial increase from the $350 million per year fee that Turner had been paying to air one of the league championship series. John Ourand and Eric Prisbell of Sports Business Daily report that the deal represents a 40% annual increase.
The deal is expected to begin in 2022, though it has not yet been presented to the owners for a vote, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The current agreement expires at the end of the 2021 season.
Ourand and Prisbell report that Turner will pay an average of $480 million per year through 2028, which syncs up to MLB's extension with Fox Sports that was signed in November 2018.
Despite this reported influx of TV cash, league ownership continues to make claims of financial unease. St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt made headlines with his comment earlier this week that the baseball industry "isn't very profitable, to be quite honest." In May, MLB reportedly told players that it expected to lose around $640,000 per game in an 82-game season with no fans in attendance.