Major League Baseball announced Tuesday an eight-year, $5.6 billion television deal with ESPN through 2021 to continue broadcasting Americas national pastime on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, as well as show game highlights. One source knowledgeable of the agreement, which is the largest in MLB history, says that Covington & Burling is advising MLB through corporate partner Peter Zern in Washington, D.C.
Zern, who did not respond to a request for comment, has previously represented MLB on its launch of the MLB Network in 2009, as well as negotiations of joint venture arrangements with various distributors for minority ownership in the baseball-centric cable channel. The latest deal between MLB and ESPN, the nations largest cable sports broadcaster, begins in 2014 as an extension of a current agreement between both parties.
