ESPN Will Acquire NFL Network And Other Media Assets For Equity Stake In ESPN
Well it’s happening, two of the biggest brand names in sports are coming together. And many fans are not happy about it. Yesterday the league dropped a bomb that left many people shook. The NFL announced that ESPN will acquire NFL Network and certain other media assets in exchange for a 10% equity stake in ESPN. That’s right the NFL Network, including the NFL Redzone, will now be under the control of ESPN.
The non-binding agreement with ESPN, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), also includes control of NFL Fantasy. In addition, there is a second non-binding agreement under which the NFL will license to ESPN certain NFL content. And other intellectual property to be used by NFL Network and other assets. They both believe that these agreements will set a new standard for how professional football is delivered, experienced and celebrated by fans.
But many fans are not in agreement with that sentiment. Currently, the NFL Redzone channel offers seven hours of commercial free football. Fans get to see the best scores and highlights of the whole slate of Sunday NFL games. Without commercials. But with ESPN being available on various television networks their programming includes commercials. Even on their paid streaming service, ESPN+, some content might be ad-free other content will include commercial breaks. And there is no ad-free option for ESPN+.
But there may be a bright side to ESPN taking over NFL Redzone. In an interview on ESPN, commissioner Roger Goodell, mentioned a possible benefit. NFL reporter Ari Meirov, posted a snippet of the interview with this comment:
“Roger Goodell says ESPN has purchased the rights to the RedZone name — allowing them to use the format for other sports, including a potential RedZone-style broadcast for College Football.”
“They have the ability to do that.”
ESPN Will Acquire NFL Network And Other Media Assets For Equity Stake In ESPN
As noted by Adam Schefter, the new agreements will extend ESPN’s draft rights. He posted:
“ESPN and the NFL have reached new licensing agreements, extending ESPN’s NFL Draft rights. ESPN was the first network to televise the draft in 1980. Beginning with the 2026 NFL Draft, Disney+ and Hulu also will stream ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes’ trio of Draft presentations. All offerings will be available on ESPN’s DTC service.”
“ESPN also has reached a rights agreement to become the exclusive home of all WWE Premium Live Events (PLEs) in the U.S. — the most significant WWE events of the year, beginning in 2026. Its DTC service will stream all PLEs.”
ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service will be available Aug. 21 which is where the NFL Network will reside. However, NFL Redzone will continue to be available on traditional pay TV.
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