MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball, has said it is keen to enter the market for over-the-top rights to global sports programming.
MLBAM chief executive Bob Bowman made the disclosure when discussing the operation’s five-year plan at the Code/Media 2016 conference in Dana Point, California. “We want to be competitive,” he said. “We want to be bidding for rights.”
However, Bowman (pictured) stressed that MLBAM doesn’t envision a future where it could compete in the market against the likes of sports broadcaster ESPN. He added: “Do we think we could ever beat ESPN? Not in the farthest stretch of the imagination.”
MLBAM commenced operations as the arm through which MLB began streaming out-of-market baseball games to subscribers. It has since grown to offer similar services to the likes of the NHL ice hockey league, golf’s PGA Tour and college basketball showpiece March Madness.