ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. — MLB Network is getting ready to move into a whole new space.
No, the content on the Emmy Award-winning network won’t be changing anytime soon, but following Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony, the countdown is on for MLB Network to move into its brand-new, state-of-the-art facility by the 2028 season.
“When you look at the MLB Network logo, it’s built around home plate,” said Bill Morningstar, MLB Network’s president. “That’s symbolic because the network serves as the home for fans of baseball across the entire U.S. Today is a big moment for us.”
Among those on hand for Tuesday’s ceremony were Morningstar, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, Deputy Commissioner of business and media Noah Garden, Elmwood Park mayor Robert Colletti and Clark Machemer, senior managing director of Crow Holdings, the real estate investment and development firm that MLB and MLB Network collaborated with on launching the project. MLB Network host Lauren Shehadi emceed the event.
MLB Network, which has won 42 Sports Emmy Awards across 15 categories since its launch in 2009, just recorded its most-watched season in seven years.
“When you have a network that’s won more than 40 Emmys in different categories and produces the kind of content that we see on the network every day, it needs a facility that lives up to that standard,” Manfred said. “We settled on this building because we believe that we can build out a first-in-class production operation that’s fitting for the great work.”
Shows such as MLB Tonight: National Pregame Show, MLB Central, MLB Now, Intentional Talk, MLB Tonight, Quick Pitch, Big Inning and Play Ball contribute to the network’s around-the-clock coverage, as thousands of pieces of content per year are produced out of MLB Network’s facilities.
In addition to the network’s annual 3,000-plus hours of live programming for on-air and social media, MLB Network has morphed into a production house in recent years, helping to produce games for a number of partners, including MLB Local Media, Apple TV, Peacock, YouTube, Meta and Roku.
“Everyone that works in the business understands that our media environment is changing very rapidly,” Manfred said. “We deal with it every day. We manage it as best we can. But one thing that I have tried to be clear about is that the MLB Network is central to our strategic approach to the media environment. It is central because the network produces tremendous high-quality content.
“You see it, you hear it from our most avid fans; it’s where they go to learn about baseball. You see it when you visit ballparks and clubhouses; players go to our network to learn about baseball, and that’s probably the highest compliment that can be paid to the network and the content it produces.”
The new location housed the Marcal Paper warehouse for nine decades before a fire destroyed it in 2019. Crow Holdings purchased the property and built a distinctive trophy industrial building inspired by the original warehouse.
“Out of the ashes of that infamous Marcal fire came Crow Holdings,” Mayor Colletti said. “They came to the planning board, they were all open arms wanting to do the right thing for the town. I must say, they did. We insisted on a building that did not look like a warehouse, that it was the cornerstone of our town, and we would want that to be part of the new look. … They did everything right, crossed every T and dotted every I. I think it’s because of that that it conjured the interest of Major League Baseball.”
Expected to be operational for the 2028 MLB season, the 207,000-square-foot commercial building will house all of MLB Network’s production studios and offices, as well as the Major League Baseball Film & Video Archive. The new facility will feature the latest cutting-edge technology and design, enabling the network to stay at the forefront of production excellence and innovation.
“When we first heard that the Major League Baseball Network might have an interest in this building, we sort of pinched ourselves,” Machemer said. “The history of this site is really unique, and [MLB and the Network] really embody what the possibilities in the future could be.”
Also in the audience Tuesday were personnel from MLB Network and Major League Baseball, as well as members from the project team, including AMA, ARK, Bohler Engineering, CBRE, CJD, CMTA, Design Republic, Eligator Acoustics, Gardiner & Theobald, Jack Morton, JRM Construction, McLaren Engineering and NEP.
