Baltimore Orioles Shown No Respect: Get Zero Sunday Night Baseball Games in 2025

In the landscape of Major League Baseball (MLB), Sunday Night Baseball has long been a marquee event for fans, offering prime-time coverage for the sport’s most exciting teams and captivating matchups. For years, ESPN has used this slot to showcase the league’s best and brightest, giving fans nationwide a chance to tune in for one of the most anticipated games of the week. However, as the 2025 MLB season looms, a concerning trend is emerging—one that leaves the Baltimore Orioles out of the limelight completely. Despite being one of the most competitive and entertaining teams in recent years, the Orioles have received a startling lack of respect, with zero Sunday Night Baseball games slated for their 2025 season.

This glaring oversight is emblematic of a broader issue: the underappreciation and marginalization of the Orioles in national media. While the team’s resurgence in recent seasons has been a beacon of hope for Baltimore fans and a testament to strong organizational management, the lack of recognition on the national stage speaks to the broader, often overlooked challenges faced by mid-market and smaller-market teams in MLB. In this article, we will explore why the Orioles deserve more attention, how they are being left out of the conversation, and the broader implications of this slight for both the team and the league.

The Orioles’ Resurgence

The Baltimore Orioles are no longer the laughingstock of the American League. After years of rebuilding and making tough decisions on player development, the team has finally returned to prominence. The 2023 and 2024 seasons saw the Orioles emerge as one of the league’s most exciting teams, boasting a strong blend of dynamic young talent, steady veteran leadership, and an emerging pitching staff that delivered consistent results.

Key players like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and Cedric Mullins have become household names in the MLB, earning All-Star nods and taking over highlight reels with electrifying plays. These players represent the best of baseball’s new generation, offering a refreshing mix of power, speed, and savvy that has helped the Orioles become one of the most thrilling teams to watch.

Additionally, the Orioles’ front office, led by executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, has been lauded for its shrewd roster-building moves and commitment to cultivating talent through the farm system. Their successful turnaround has provided a blueprint for other teams that were previously stuck in mediocrity, highlighting the potential for sustained success even in a market with a limited financial capacity.

Given the talent on the field and the renewed optimism surrounding the franchise, the Orioles’ absence from national broadcasts like Sunday Night Baseball raises questions. Why, after such a remarkable turnaround, is the team being ignored by ESPN’s broadcast schedulers?

The Sunday Night Baseball Slot

Sunday Night Baseball is one of the most coveted broadcasting slots in MLB, drawing millions of viewers each week. ESPN has used the slot to highlight the sport’s best teams, star players, and rivalries, with a focus on national appeal. The games selected for this time are typically those that carry the most intrigue or feature compelling matchups that resonate with a broad audience.

For teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox, Sunday Night Baseball has been a fixture for years. These teams, with their storied histories and massive fanbases, are often chosen to showcase the drama and spectacle of MLB at its highest level. However, this exclusive club of teams has led to criticism over the years for a lack of diversity in terms of the teams that receive national exposure.

In theory, the Sunday Night Baseball slot should be available to any team that can deliver an exciting and competitive product. However, teams from mid-market and smaller-market cities—like the Orioles—frequently find themselves overlooked. While the Orioles have emerged as one of the league’s most promising teams in recent years, they have not received a single Sunday Night Baseball game in 2025.

This omission stands in stark contrast to the team’s rising star power. The Orioles’ lineup features emerging stars like Rutschman, who finished in the top three in AL MVP voting in 2024, and Henderson, whose potential is widely regarded as one of the highest in the league. On the mound, pitchers like Kyle Gibson and Grayson Rodriguez have shown flashes of brilliance, and the team’s overall pitching staff ranks among the best in the American League.

If national broadcasters are genuinely interested in showcasing the best of baseball, it’s hard to ignore the Orioles. Yet, the reality is that the team remains relegated to regional broadcasts, limiting their exposure and the broader fanbase’s opportunity to engage with one of the most exciting young teams in the league.

A Systemic Problem for Smaller-Market Teams

The exclusion of the Orioles from Sunday Night Baseball in 2025 is part of a broader issue that many smaller-market teams in MLB face: the systemic disadvantage of limited media coverage. Larger-market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs have long enjoyed the benefits of national exposure, with their games often featured in prime time. These teams have the largest fanbases, meaning broadcasters can sell advertisements at a premium, while the national interest surrounding these games remains high.

However, this dynamic creates a feedback loop that hurts teams in smaller or mid-sized markets. Without the exposure provided by national broadcasts, teams like the Orioles struggle to build their national profiles, and fans outside their home markets may not be as familiar with their talent. This, in turn, leads to fewer opportunities for these teams to be showcased in the future, as national broadcasters opt to prioritize the more visible, high-profile teams that already have a built-in audience.

For the Orioles, this problem is compounded by the perception of Baltimore as a mid-tier market. While the city of Baltimore has a rich baseball tradition and a loyal fanbase, it doesn’t compare in terms of the national spotlight to cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. As a result, the team is often overlooked, despite its on-field success.

The Orioles and National Recognition

At the heart of the issue is the Orioles’ lack of national recognition despite their evident growth and talent. The MLB, much like other major sports leagues, is a business, and the driving force behind much of its media coverage is profit. Bigger teams with more significant fanbases generate more money, which is why they often get the most national attention.

However, this emphasis on financial power runs counter to the values that sports leagues should stand for—namely, providing a platform for all teams to succeed and be seen. MLB should be doing more to ensure that all teams, including smaller-market ones like the Orioles, get the exposure they deserve. The fact that the Orioles are not receiving any Sunday Night Baseball games in 2025 is not just an oversight—it’s a sign of an industry that is failing to live up to its potential in promoting the entire league.

A more equitable approach to national coverage would include spreading the wealth, giving teams like the Orioles the opportunity to showcase their talent and prove themselves on a larger stage. This would benefit not only the Orioles, but the league as a whole, as it would elevate the quality and excitement of the sport by allowing fans nationwide to witness the full range of talent across MLB.

The Impact on the Orioles

The absence of Sunday Night Baseball games has direct consequences for the Orioles and their fanbase. For a team that has worked so hard to rebuild and revitalize its roster, the lack of national exposure is a missed opportunity. It denies their star players the chance to further raise their profiles and limits the ability of the organization to grow its fanbase.

Moreover, this lack of respect in the media can have long-term effects on player development and team morale. Players like Rutschman, Henderson, and Mullins have demonstrated their potential to be stars of the future, but without national broadcasts, they risk being overshadowed by players on bigger-market teams. This could eventually affect the Orioles’ ability to retain their talent, as players might look to larger markets with more exposure and financial incentives.

For Orioles fans, it’s disheartening to see their team work so hard to return to the upper echelons of MLB and yet still be treated as an afterthought by national broadcasters. The lack of recognition is not only a slap in the face to the team but to the passionate fanbase that has endured years of mediocrity and rebuilding.