Front & Center: Norby Williamson on ESPN’s MLB Extension

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ESPN and Major League Baseball today announced a monumental, eight-year extension which will significantly enhance ESPN’s broad portfolio of MLB rights across platforms.

For sports fans, it means ESPN will deliver more baseball content than ever before. For ESPN and MLB, it will ensure a 30-plus year relationship — one of the longest standing relationships between a network and league — dating back to 1990.

The rights package includes a plethora of new content, including an annual Wild Card game, additional regular-season games, in-progress highlights on SportsCenter and a slew of additional rights across TV, radio, digital and International platforms. Here are full details.

ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming & Acquisitions, Norby Williamson was part of the team at the forefront of the negotiations, which heated up over the past few weeks.

In the Front & Center podcast above, he breaks down the new deal, what it means for sports fans and in context of ESPN’s unwavering commitment to baseball.