WBC on ESPN and MLB Network

The World Baseball Classic will be split between ESPN and the MLB Network. That's not necessarily bad news. MLB Network is getting distributed by a number of the providers that butted heads with the NFL Network, because those providers own a share of MLB's Network.

Thanks to negotiations, some bizarre and some fractious, the MLB Network will begin with an endowment of more than 50 million subscribers, which will provide the channel with a level of cash that Werner said would make it break even immediately.

Baseball is swapping one-third ownership of its channel with DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner and Cox for wide distribution, thus avoiding the kind of ongoing distribution turf war that the NFL Network is having with Big Cable.

Smart business, and there's a good chance you'll get to see the games.