# Major League Baseball on ABC

National television broadcasts of Major League Baseball (MLB) games have aired on ABC in various formats. The network first aired Saturday Major League Baseball Game of the Week games between 1953 and 1955, in 1960, and in 1965. ABC then televised MLB games from 1976 to 1989, airing Monday Night Baseball, Thursday Night Baseball, and Sunday Afternoon Baseball in various years during that period.
MLB games aired on ABC again in 1994 and 1995 as part of The Baseball Network, the short-lived time-brokered package of broadcasts produced by Major League Baseball and split with NBC. After not televising MLB since The Baseball Network folded, and after the ABC Sports division merged with ESPN in 2006, ABC has aired selected games as part of its sister cable network's contract since 2020. The broadcasts since 2020 have been produced by ESPN, and have primarily used the ESPN Major League Baseball branding and graphics instead of the Major League Baseball on ABC branding.

## History

From 1953 until 1955, and again in 1960, ABC aired Major League Baseball Game of the Week telecasts, usually on Saturdays. In 1959, ABC broadcast the best-of-three playoff series (to decide the National League pennant) between the Milwaukee Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 1965, ABC returned to Game of the Week broadcasting with 28 regional Saturday and Holiday games.
In 1976, ABC began a new four year rights deal with MLB that included 16 new Monday night games, which increased to 18 in the next three years of the deal, as well as half the postseason (both League Championship Series in even numbered years and World Series in odd numbered years) and the All-Star Game in even numbered years. This contract was modified for the 1980, Monday Night Baseball telecasts were reduced to just five, with the rest of the games moved to Sunday afternoons.
In 1984, ABC agreed to a new six year rights deal with MLB. The playoff and All-Star Game television structure remained the same, while ABC increased their regular season games to 20. In 1989, the final season of ABC's deal before CBS took over, ABC moved their games to Thursday nights.
In 1994, ABC returned to MLB coverage with another six year rights deal. Under the deal, as part of The Baseball Network, ABC would air six weeks of regular season games on Saturday and Monday nights. In even numbered years, ABC had the rights to the World Series and Division Series, while in odd numbered years ABC had the rights to the All-Star Game and League Championship Series. However, these plans changed because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. Because of the strike, which began on August 12, a significant number of games were cancelled, including the 1994 World Series. ABC and NBC consequently, wound up sharing the rights to the 1995 World Series. Also because of the strike, The Baseball Network, a joint production between NBC and ABC, collapsed, and ABC ended their MLB rights following the 1995 season.
In 2020, ABC returned to MLB coverage once again. This time it was part of ESPN's Wild Card Series coverage, which was expanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic (ESPN and ABC are both primarily owned by The Walt Disney Company, and Disney integrated the ABC Sports division with ESPN in 2006). ABC aired three Wild Card Series games as part of this coverage. All coverage primarily used ESPN or ESPN on ABC branding. In 2021, ABC aired their first regular season game since 1995, an August 8 Sunday Night Baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs. That same year, ESPN and Major League Baseball agreed to a contract extension that included the exclusive rights to a new Wild Card Series. ABC will have the rights to air select games from the Series, as well as the rights to air select ESPN regular season games. From 2022 to 2025, ABC has aired one to three games (usually all games from one of the series) annually from the Wild Card Series. On February 20, 2025, MLB and ESPN agreed to opt-out of their deal at the end of the 2025 season.

### List of games since 1995

| Year | Date | Teams | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Field reporter(s) | Significance | Viewership (millions) |
| 2020 | September 29 | Astros/Twins | Karl Ravech | Tim Kurkjian and Eduardo Pérez | | Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series | 2.20 |
| 2020 | September 30 | Marlins/Cubs | Jon Sciambi | Chipper Jones | Jesse Rogers | Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series | 1.54 |
| 2020 | October 2 | Marlins/Cubs | Jon Sciambi | Chipper Jones | Jesse Rogers | Game 2 of the NL Wild Card series | 2.19 |
| 2021 | August 8 | White Sox/Cubs | Matt Vasgersian | Alex Rodriguez | Buster Olney | First regular season game since 1995 | 1.63 |
| 2022 | October 7 | Phillies/Cardinals | Michael Kay | Alex Rodriguez | Alden Gonzalez | Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series | 3.12 |
| 2023 | October 3 | Rangers/Rays | Sean McDonough | Jessica Mendoza and Tim Kurkjian | Coley Harvey | Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series | 2.21 |
| 2023 | October 4 | Rangers/Rays | Sean McDonough | Jessica Mendoza and Tim Kurkjian | Coley Harvey | Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series | 2.24 |
| 2024 | October 1 | Tigers/Astros | Michael Kay | Todd Frazier and Tim Kurkjian | Alden González | Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series | 3.19 |
| 2024 | October 2 | Tigers/Astros | Michael Kay | Todd Frazier and Tim Kurkjian | Alden González | Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series | 3.01 |