The National Football League (NFL) and sports broadcaster ESPN have reached a deal that involves the latter acquiring control of NFL Media, including the pay TV channels NFL Network and NFL RedZone, according to a report published on Friday.
The report, from the New York Times blog The Athletic, said an official announcement is expected in the coming days. The Walt Disney Company, which owns 80 percent of ESPN, will disclose its fiscal third quarter (Q3, coincides with calendar Q2) financial earnings on Wednesday and has scheduled its investor conference call for early that morning. (Hearst Corporation owns a non-controlling 20 percent stake in ESPN.)
The NFL and Disney have not offered a public comment on the matter. Rumors have swirled for several weeks that ESPN was interested in acquiring some or all of NFL Media in exchange for the NFL taking an equity stake in the sports broadcaster.
In addition to NFL Network and NFL RedZone, ESPN will acquire the rights to several NFL games that were scheduled to air exclusively on NFL Network, including a handful of games played overseas. The agreement may also open the door for ESPN to incorporate interactive features such as betting integrations, and could include other assets over time.
The deal does not include NFL Sunday Ticket, a TV package that offers access to regionally-broadcast football games airing on CBS and Fox stations beyond a football fan’s home area. The NFL itself handles the rights to that package, which are independent of NFL Media. Rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket are held by Alphabet’s streaming platform YouTube, which also makes the package available on its streaming cable alternative YouTube TV.
The timing of the agreement aligns with a new streaming package called ESPN Unlimited, which is expected to debut in the next few weeks. The plan costs $30 per month and unlocks access to ESPN’s cable multiplex — including ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, ESPN U and several college sports channels — that will be available to stream within the ESPN app. The plan also includes access to ESPN Plus.
ESPN Unlimited is targeted primarily at cord-cutters and so-called “cord-nevers” who have dropped or avoided pay television services over the past few years. That said, cable and satellite customers who receive ESPN in their programming package will be able to watch channels and content from ESPN Unlimited with their pay TV username and password.
ESPN and the NFL already maintain a deep relationship. The network airs “Monday Night Football,” broadcasts 25 games annually, and holds rights to two Super Bowls in 2027 and 2031, under a current rights deal worth approximately $2.7 billion per year.
The NFL has been exploring opportunities to offload its media assets, particularly NFL Network, for several years. Though launched in 2003 as a potential ESPN rival, NFL Network never fully matured into a competitive alternative. ESPN’s programming, particularly its studio shows, continues to place outsized emphasis on NFL coverage.
