St. Louis Cardinals, Fox Sports Midwest strike new deal to broadcast games through 2032

The St. Louis Cardinals will stay on Fox Sports Midwest through 2032 thanks to a new agreement.

The 15-year deal announced Thursday begins in 2018 and runs through the 2032 season. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Cardinals are a lynchpin of Fox Sports Midwest, which broadcasts games to parts of 10 states.

Cardinals games are the highest-rated prime-time programming in St. Louis during the baseball season, and the local ratings ranked first among all Major League Baseball teams in 2014. This season, only the Kansas City Royals have higher local ratings.

Local rights packages in baseball have skyrocketed in value as live-event programming has become increasingly popular among viewers and advertisers.

Team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says the deal will help keep the team competitive.