In 1987, an eight-year-old cable network in just 41 million homes acquired the rights to eight NFL regular season Sunday night games and the Pro Bowl.
The then-up-and-coming ESPN paid a now-quaint $51 million per season to the NFL for the three-year package, and it changed the trajectory of what became arguably the most powerful sports media company of all time. ESPN was built on a lot of things, but the most notable was its nearly four-decade relationship with the league.
Now, according to sources briefed on negotiations, ESPN and the NFL are inside the 5-yard line on another ground-breaking deal for ESPN to acquire NFL Media, the arm of the league that focuses on content and runs the NFL Network.
The deal, though different from the way the league and the all-sports network deepened their ties in 1987, comes as ESPN makes its programming available in a direct-to-consumer product this fall. ESPN is hyping this upcoming iteration as “The Next Era,” at a price of $29.99 per month.
While a contract between ESPN and the NFL is not signed, the two sides have been closing in on talks that first began four years ago, heated up a little more than a year and half ago and now are the closest they have ever been, with the league even informing its owners they may be needed for a vote on it early next month, as first reported by Sports Business Journal.
Until a deal is across the goal line, it is not done – and the minute details, which the sides are said to be working around the clock on, matter. All that said, it’s a big deal.
The NFL and ESPN declined to comment for this column.
The NFL Network, under ESPN, would likely be enhanced. (Mike Windle / Getty Images)
In 1987, ESPN used NFL games as a battering ram to increase the fees it charged cable subscribers. By 2011, that once-little network was in 100 million homes, it called itself, “The Worldwide Leader in Sports,” and it wasn’t wrong.
Today, still strong, but diminished, ESPN charges more than $10 per month for its services, but with the digital revolution, the rise of Netflix and other streaming options has resulted in just 65.3 million homes receiving ESPN through cable, satellite and services like YouTube TV and Fubo, according to Nielsen.
ESPN wants to maintain as many of those viewers as it can. Those subscribers will be able to have access to ESPN in its traditional format, while adding the ability to log on to the new and improved direct-to-consumer app, launching soon.
The same way a generation first turned to ESPN on cable, the Disney-owned network hopes the ESPN app becomes the ultimate go-to for sports fans. That leads back to the NFL.
The NFL has tried for years to unload many of its media assets, including NFL Media (which operates NFL Network and Red Zone Channel, among other entities), and there is optimism that it will finally happen. The league has had some success with its in-house creations, but in a media ecosystem that is more scattered, it may finally be ready to let someone else manage them – for a pretty penny, of course.
The exact amount of money or equity that Disney/ESPN would pay is not yet known, but it will be enormous. There is expected to be a regulatory period that will need approval before everything goes into effect. The process may take nine months, give or take.
What could be in the deal is the Red Zone Channel, NFL Network, seven regular-season games that appear on NFL Network, enhanced betting and fantasy league possibilities. There may be more.
Red Zone is the Sunday afternoon show that takes viewers inside all the stadiums when teams are threatening to score. This could be a boon for ESPN’s app, as well as in its future negotiations with cable and operators for its slew of networks. It could upsell Red Zone in the app, as well as demand more from operators (like YouTube TV, Fubo or cable systems) to continue to offer the service on its platform every Sunday in the fall.
The NFL Network, under ESPN, would likely be enhanced. ESPN’s main channels would still feature the NFL a lot of the time, but the devoted network would be on 24/7.
NFL Network has seen years of layoffs and downsizing, and while ESPN will likely take advantage of overlapping jobs to cut costs, it will also want to make NFL Network even more of a must-watch.
With sports betting and fantasy becoming an increasing part of the fan experience, ESPN can be expected to use its potentially enlarged user base integration into its new direct-to-consumer app for what it will likely hope is a transformative experience and increased subscriber growth.
In 2024, of the 100 highest-rated programs on television, 72 were NFL games. This does not appear to be changing anytime soon.
With increased NFL competition from Amazon Prime Video on Thursday nights, Netflix on Christmas and now, for the first time, YouTube, for the second game of the 2025 season from Brazil, to go along with fellow traditional players such as Fox, NBC and CBS, a closer relationship for ESPN with the league would seem to make sense.
ESPN already pays $2.7 billion per season for 25 games a year, mostly on Monday Nights. It will have ESPN’s first Super Bowl on its platforms, including its sister network, ABC, in February 2027.
This potential new agreement is probably not as transformative as 1987, but the sports streaming battle is about to have a historic marker in the fall when ESPN’s direct-to-consumer launches, with possibly even more NFL in its portfolio.
When “The next era begins,” ESPN’s first big move may be using its old playbook.
(Top photo of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
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