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 1954, 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. This includes a Sunday Night Baseball game in 2021 and selected weekend afternoon games in 2026.

History

From 1953 until 1954, and again from 1959 to 1961, 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 season, 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.

On November 19, 2025, ESPN announced a restructured three-year deal with MLB. Among its new rights, ESPN would televise a 30-game schedule primarily on summer weeknights, including the MLB Little League Classic, Memorial Day games, and the second-half opener game. However, its flagship broadcast Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card Series were moved to NBC, while Netflix took over the rights to the Home Run Derby.

On January 21, 2026, ESPN announced that ABC would exclusively air three regular season during the 2026 season. The games will take place during weekend afternoons in June and August. The games mark the most regular season games to air on ABC since 1995.

List of games since 2020 Year Date Teams Play-by-play Color commentator(s) Field reporter(s) Significance Viewership (millions)2020Astros-TwinsKarl RavechTim Kurkjian and Eduardo PérezGame 1 of the AL Wild Card Series2.20Marlins-CubsJon SciambiChipper JonesJesse RogersGame 1 of the NL Wild Card Series1.54Game 2 of the NL Wild Card series2.192021White Sox-CubsMatt VasgersianAlex RodriguezBuster OlneyFirst regular season game since last aired in 19951.632022Phillies-CardinalsMichael KayAlden GonzalezGame 1 of the NL Wild Card Series3.122023Rangers-RaysSean McDonoughJessica Mendoza and Tim KurkjianColey HarveyGame 1 of the AL Wild Card Series2.21Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series2.242024Tigers-AstrosMichael KayTodd Frazier and Tim KurkjianAlden GonzálezGame 1 of the AL Wild Card Series3.19Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series3.012025Padres-CubsKevin BrownJessica Mendoza and Ben McDonaldJesse RogersGame 1 of the NL Wild Card SeriesGame 2 of the NL Wild Card SeriesTigers-GuardiansSean McDonoughTodd FrazierTaylor McGregorGame 3 of the AL Wild Card Series2026Cubs-GiantsJon SciambiDavid RossBuster OlneyFirst regular season games on the network since last aired in 2021Yankees-Red SoxKarl RavechDavid Ross and Eduardo PerezCardinals-CubsJon Sciambi

Notes ABC cut away from their broadcast Miami-Chicago Cubs game during the top of the 9th inning to deliver a special report on U.S. president Donald Trump being taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for COVID-19 treatment. The conclusion of the game would be seen on ESPN. Al Michaels, who was the lead play-by-play announcer for ABC's Major League Baseball coverage from 1983 to 1989 and their brief return to the sport from 1994 to 1995, would join in on the broadcast via FaceTime during the fourth inning. Vasgersian, Rodriguez, and Olney wore special ABC Sports patches during the Sunday Night Baseball telecast on August 8, 2021. Special graphics were also used in conjunction with the standard ESPN MLB graphics.

Production overview In 1965, ABC brought forth such innovations like isolated instant replay, field microphones, and a separate camera for each base runner. After ABC's contract for the Game of the Week expired after a single season, NBC felt compelled to dramatically alter their own baseball coverage. So for NBC's coverage of the 1965 World Series, it featured videotaped replays, prerecorded audio analysis from key players, and enhanced animated graphics.

When ABC resumed broadcasting Major League Baseball games in 1976 after an eleven-year hiatus, they were immediately accused of having ill-prepared production crews and announcers on their Monday Night Baseball telecasts. William Leggett of Sports Illustrated would in particular, note that ABC seemed to try to hoodwink viewers with commentary that may sound insightful, but was often dead wrong, and with fancy camera work that was frequently used at inappropriate times during the action. Leggett also criticized ABC for far too often losing batted balls and base runners from view and employing split screens with the wrong men on base. Not only that, but the starting lineups were not being given at the beginning of the games.

According to James Walker, professor in the department of communication at Saint Xavier University and co-author of the book Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television, ABC brought the techniques it had perfected in its football coverage, including far more extensive use of replays, isolated cameras, and different angles. In contrast, when looking at NBC's production of the 1969 World Series, very few replays were utilized and it was a much more static broadcast than what you saw later.

For their coverage of the 1979 World Series in Baltimore, ABC brought two trucks (and rented a third), 14 cameras, a helicopter and nearly 100 technicians. According to producer Chuck Howard, that was just about twice the number of cameras used during the regular season, and at twice the cost. Director Chet Forte's team of cameramen was, in his words, "built around the camera position high behind home plate (C-2)." Their "coverage camera" was designed to follow the flight of the ball. ABC intended on using this camera 75 percent of the time and was according to Forte, the toughest camera in TV sports.

1980s ABC, under the watch of director Joe Aceti, brought some innovations in time for their coverage of the 1980 National League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, such as putting the camera in the gondola in the Astrodome looking straight down on the field. For tight shots, Aceti wanted to see the face of the pitcher and the face of the batter. He didn't want them shown in a split screen but separately in a close-up. He also didn't want to shot players head to toe in a long shot, not even in a medium shot.

Chet Forte's directing performance would come under scrutiny when ABC next broadcast the World Series in 1981. For one thing, ABC's replay cameras, which were placed strategically around the park, don't always catch the play. For example, ABC only showed one replay from the main feed camera of New York Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles making a diving, eighth-inning catch of Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey's liner in Game 1. ABC was also criticized for frequently showing all those players' wives cheering instead of giving viewers a wide- angle view of how the outfielders are playing the hitters.

David Remnick of the Washington Post felt that Howard Cosell while broadcasting the 1983 World Series alongside Al Michaels and Earl Weaver, developed a few "human interest" tags and rammed them home in his inimitable ecclesiastical rhythms instead of actually sharing his knowledge with viewers. To put things into perspective, Remnick noted that Cosell had more to say about the way the Baltimore groundskeepers combated the outfield's "slippage factor" with a miraculous "drying agent" than about Mike Boddicker's pitching. Remnick also said that Cosell had more to say about the refurbished buildings in downtown Baltimore and along the Schuylkill River than about Mike Schmidt's hitting. Or Cosell would talk about John Denny's family problems more often than his ability to strike out Eddie Murray. Remnick in particular, criticized ABC for featuring interviews interspersed with the game action, which would sometimes cause them to miss a double off the wall while a prerecorded player is gabbing up in the corner of the screen. Not only that, but Remnick accused Howard Cosell of did his best to ruin a great camera shot of John Lowenstein's theft of a home run in Game 1 by simultaneously praising the shot and rapping other networks for praising their own shots.