ESPN secured cable rights Wednesday for Major League Baseball games through 2013, fending off a possible challenge from Comcast Corp. and locking in what has been a profitable venture for ESPN parent Walt Disney Co.

ESPN will show as many as 80 Major League Baseball games per season on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights under the eight-year contract, the two parties said. ESPN and MLB did not disclose terms of the agreement.

The deal replaces ESPN’s five-year, $851 million contract for Sunday and Wednesday night games that expires at the end of this season. In renewing cable rights for pro baseball, ESPN shuts out a rival, Comcast’s OLN network, which has begun to carry National Hockey League games.

Burbank-based Disney credited ESPN’s performance with helping to drive its 41 percent increase in profits for the third quarter this year.