Getty Images and Major League Baseball Properties have announced a multi-year extension of their agreement, under which Getty will continue as the exclusive Major League Baseball commercial photo partner and licensor of its image archive.
According to the statement issued by Getty, this continued partnership underscores the image company’s position as the leader in the sports photography business. This sentiment no doubt refers to a recent loss of a similar arrangement with the National Football League to Associated Press.
Under the MLB agreement, Getty will offer a suite of services ranging from licensing and rights management to hosting expanding the image collection. The MLB archive currently contains over 1 million images. Getty photographers will cover the regular baseball season, Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series.
Getty is the accredited photography services provider to over 50 international sports governing bodies. Earlier this year, the company became the new distribution partner of the Association of Surfing Professionals.
Punctuated by the Olympics, last year was particularly notable for Getty’s sports photographers, who swept most sports and Olympic categories in a number of the photo-industry’s awards. MLB senior vice president of licensing Howard Smith said that the company’s expertise in sports photography, supported by an exceptional distribution network, were the key factors considered by MLB in renewing the contract.