Disney CEO Bob Iger has been pushing the company’s streaming services hard into profitability, and it appears that after years of losing money, Disney+ is finally in the black.Credit: Inside the MagicUnlike other streaming services, Disney has an ace up its sleeves that can take down any other service: ESPN and its live sports broadcasts. Sports have long dominated the ratings, and ESPN has its hands in all of them.ESPN’s streaming service can offer viewers the ratings juggernaut of the NFL, college football and basketball, the NBA, and Major League Baseball.With Disney planning a fall rollout for ESPN’s new streaming-only platform, the Worldwide Leader in Sports must continue to have that advantage. However, ESPN’s outlook took a major hit as it lost one of its significant properties.Credit: Inside the MagicESPN and Major League Baseball announced this week that they would be parting ways after the 2025 season. The two sides had until March 1 to reach a new agreement but the contentious negotiations went no where.According to a letter from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to owners, ESPN asked MLB to reduce the $550 million it pays baseball annually to broadcast its games. ESPN was upset that MLB is charging some of its other partners significantly less to broadcast national baseball games.Manfred told owners that he expressed anger over ESPN’s lack of coverage of MLB on the networks other shows. He also said that other partners have expressed interested in picking up MLB’s national television game of the week.Credit: DisneyThis could not come at a worse time for ESPN as Disney hopes to bring it to a streaming-only platform this fall. While Disney/ESPN would still have MLB’s playoffs this fall, it would create a hole in the network’s lineup for 2026, when it hopes to bring in the most subscribers.ESPN has sports coverage throughout the year, but without MLB, it would leave a gaping hole in the summer months when there is very little else on live television other than baseball.MLB saw a six percent increase in rating during the 2024 season for its ESPN games. ESPN has aired Sunday Night Baseball since 1990, but that relationship will end this year.The post As Disney’s Streaming Services Continue To Drop Subscribers, They Just Lost a $500 Million Property appeared first on Inside the Magic.