The NFL is turning over most of its media properties, including the NFL Network and distribution rights to the NFL RedZone channel, to ESPN, and in return, America’s richest and most powerful sports league is getting an ownership stake in the country’s largest sports network.
This is an unprecedented marriage that could change the way we watch football and how the league is covered for years to come. Now that the megadeal has been finalized (pending approval from league owners and governmental regulators), we have questions about what it all means for ESPN, the league, and the journalism business, as the lines between these entities have blurred.
Why did ESPN acquire NFL Network?
Well, it’s not for Good Morning Football. With apologies to NFL Network’s morning show, this acquisition is all about ESPN owning more of the most valuable asset in all of television: live football. ESPN gains distribution rights to the NFL RedZone channel and will get the broadcast rights to three additional games per season, bringing its total to 28. NFL Network, while under the ESPN umbrella, will broadcast seven games. ESPN will also assume control of the NFL’s fantasy football business. (Not included in the deal are NFL Films, NFL.com, and individual team websites.)
It’s probably not a coincidence that this deal, which had been in the works for years, was finalized shortly before the launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service later this month. That service, which will cost $29.99 per month, becomes a lot more attractive when ESPN can offer an expanded package of live NFL games and the option to add on RedZone, which currently is only available as part of a package on YouTube TV, through certain television providers, or through the league’s NFL+ Premium subscription. Currently, ESPN has no live football programming during the big Sunday broadcast windows, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET, and this deal will make the network a major player on days they have historically been shut out of game action.
And the purchase could also be a bit about real estate: Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday that ESPN will take over the lease for the NFL Network studio space adjacent to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. ESPN had recently vacated its own L.A. studio, which had been home to a West Coast edition of SportsCenter and multiple NBA shows.
Will ESPN change the NFL RedZone channel?
The NFL will still produce the RedZone channel, so at least in the short term, little will change for viewers who choose to spend their Sundays watching host Scott Hanson whipping around the Sunday slate to show the most important live action and, hopefully, every score.
There are a few long-term questions as distribution shifts to ESPN after this season: Will ESPN add commercials—as the channel did briefly last season—and, if so, how many and how often? (And, if so, R.I.P. to Hanson’s “commercial-free football” one-liner.) How long will Hanson, who has been hosting the channel since 2009 and recently re-signed on a four-year deal, remain the host? Or will ESPN eventually replace him with their own talent? And, most interesting, how will ESPN expand the RedZone brand?
There is some clarity to the latter question: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, in an interview on SportsCenter on Wednesday, said the network now owns the RedZone name and, “they will be able to utilize that for other sports, college football and other things.” ESPN doesn’t own the rights to every college football game, but between ESPN, ABC, and SEC Network’s deals, the network probably has enough inventory for an entertaining iteration of a Saturday RedZone channel, albeit one devoid of Big Ten games.
Why did the NFL want to do this deal?
Aside from the money it stands to make from selling off its media assets and acquiring a stake in ESPN, for the league, this is essentially a way to get out of the live TV business, something it’s been trying to do for years.
The league launched the NFL Network in 2003, hoping to compete with ESPN with a handful of live broadcasts during the season and year-round studio shows with a roster of reporters and former players to provide analysis. Over the past two decades, the league faced challenges in getting its network widely distributed on cable and satellite networks, and more recently had been cutting back on original programming and reducing staff. The network relocated its flagship show, Good Morning Football, from New York City to Los Angeles last year, and lost some of its most recognizable talent, including Rich Eisen and Peter Schrager (both to ESPN).
Now the league can focus on where it really makes its money: selling its games to the highest bidder, rather than trying to fund its own network.
So, what will happen to the NFL Network?
It’s possible that the network will continue to operate under ESPN’s ownership in a similar manner to the way ESPN runs the SEC Network, with its own studios, shows, and talent. But it is hard to imagine ESPN keeping NFL Network’s programming and staffing completely as is once it is in control. While the SEC Network fills a niche void in the college football media landscape, much of NFL Network’s current programming is in direct competition with ESPN’s offerings. How much will ESPN want to invest in a show like Good Morning Football that would air opposite Get Up and First Take? What about a show like The Insiders, which features insight from NFL Network’s national reporters, up against ESPN’s flagship NFL afternoon show, NFL Live? And what will become of the NFL newsbreaker rivalry between ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport?
As part of Tuesday’s agreement, the league will license its content to ESPN in order to run the NFL Network, which could allow the next iteration of that channel to fill airtime with old NFL broadcasts. As a huge fan of “name some guys” culture, I personally would be fine with an NFL Network that aired nothing but random games from the 1990s and a handful of live games on Saturdays in December.
How does this impact ESPN’s slate of games?
ESPN already airs 25 games per season on its platforms. Most of that inventory is on Monday Night Football, a broadcast that has improved in quality and quantity in recent seasons. In 2022, ESPN lured Joe Buck and Troy Aikman away from Fox to man the Monday night booth, ending years of experimentation as ESPN tried and failed to land on the right pair or trio of broadcasters after the departures of Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden. With the stardom of Buck and Aikman and a much more attractive slate of games, Monday Night Football is once again a crown jewel on the NFL’s broadcast calendar.
Now with the NFL owning a stake in ESPN, I would expect the league’s investment in Monday Night Football’s success to intensify. Could that mean ESPN is able to request more marquee matchups and star quarterbacks on MNF? ESPN hasn’t typically landed the best playoff games; will that change in the coming years? ESPN has already been awarded two future Super Bowls (in 2027 and 2031); are more on the horizon?
How will this deal impact ESPN’s journalism?
The league owning a 10 percent stake in a journalism outlet is a big deal for the way the NFL is covered. ESPN employs a large roster of reporters who cover the league and its 32 teams on a daily basis, without interference or oversight from the NFL (at least in theory, if not in practice). ESPN’s investigative reporters have done especially impactful work in recent years covering complicated league issues, particularly involving powerful NFL owners and coaches, like these pieces about Daniel Snyder’s troubled reign in Washington, or this one about Bill Belichick’s failed quest to land a head coaching job in 2024.
I expect the league to say it will stay out of editorial decisions, and that will probably be true on a day-to-day basis when it comes to things like the game coverage, scheme breakdowns, and free agent transactions. But will ESPN’s investigative journalists truly remain free to dig into and report on the league’s owners, executives, and the serious issues impacting the sport, in a way that allows them to truly hold a billion-dollar corporation to account? For the sake of the journalists currently working at ESPN, I hope so. And fans of the league who deserve to know what’s going on behind the scenes should hope so, too.
What about gambling?
The league’s equity in ESPN comes with an additional complicated layer when it comes to sports gambling. The network licenses its brand to a betting platform, ESPN Bet, offering legal mobile gambling in 19 states, and has integrated gambling into its mainstream sports coverage. Plenty of journalism outlets have business relationships with sports books (have you checked out The Ringer’s Million Dollar Picks on FanDuel lately?), but ESPN lending its name to a sportsbook is unique. And the NFL now being in position to directly profit off sports gambling is something the league will need to address. It will be difficult for Goodell to maintain the league’s stance that “integrity of the game” is paramount while also having a stake in a media company that is making money from a sportsbook.
What’s next?
The agreement between the league and ESPN is finalized, but the deal isn’t completely done. The next step will come when the league’s owners meet to discuss and vote to approve the sale on August 26, according to The Athletic. It seems unlikely the NFL would have gotten this far without knowing if ownership would sign off.
The deal still needs government approval, and that could be a lengthy process. According to the Sports Business Journal, it’s possible that the deal won’t be official until as late as the end of 2026, though the league and ESPN are hoping regulatory approval will be finished ahead of next season.
Lindsay Jones
Lindsay edits, writes, and occasionally podcasts about the NFL, which she has been covering since 2008 for outlets including The Denver Post, USA Today, and The Athletic. She’s a graduate of Emory University and is a proud mom and marathoner.Source link
