ESPN plans to exercise opt-out clause to escape MLB contract, WSJ says

Last year, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro visited MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, carrying a harsh message: The company thinks baseball’s TV rights are declining in value, Jared Diamond and Isabella Simonetti of The Wall Street Journal report. ESPN has been paying $550M a year to show baseball games, which is already hundreds of millions less than prior years. Now, ESPN plans to exercise an opt-out clause to escape the final three seasons of its contract with the MLB, the Journal says, according to people familiar with the matter.