ESPN and the NFL are putting a ring on it – let’s hope that means a huge win for their viewers.
As originally reported by The Athletic last week, ESPN’s relationship with the league will become even more intertwined in the wake of Tuesday night’s announcement of a non-binding agreement in which it “will acquire NFL Network and certain other media assets owned and controlled by the NFL – including NFL’s linear RedZone Channel, and NFL Fantasy – in exchange for a 10% equity stake in ESPN.” The parties “are also entering into 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.”
In addition to making more untold billions, the NFL effectively divests itself of the costs associated with in-house broadcasting. Concurrently, its product gains even wider distribution and new innovative benefits.
NFL Network will continue to broadcast seven games per season with ESPN reaping the benefits of that – notably to its pending direct-to-consumer service. NFL Fantasy Football and ESPN Fantasy Football will merge.
“This is an exciting day for sports fans,” Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s chairman, said in a statement.
“By combining these NFL media assets with ESPN’s reach and innovation, we’re creating a premier destination for football fans. Together, ESPN and the NFL are redefining how fans engage with the game – anytime, anywhere. This deal helps fuel ESPN’s digital future, laying the foundation for an even more robust offering as we prepare to launch our new direct-to-consumer service.”
The breadcrumbs for this union have been apparent for some time.
NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport is a frequent guest on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” and has even hosted it – certainly an unusual arrangement for entities seemingly set up as something of competitors when the league became the first of the major ones in North America to create its own broadcasting arm with the launch of NFL Network in 2003.
Rich Eisen, the original face of NFLN when he left ESPN to help start it, had already been revealed as the new de facto voice of ESPN Radio – “The Rich Eisen Show” to begin airing there in September from noon to 3 p.m. ET as well as on Disney+ and ESPN+. Former NFLN reporter Peter Schrager, a longtime cast member of “Good Morning Football,” the network’s morning show, jumped to ESPN earlier this year.
Hopefully viewers reap the benefit of better and broader coverage of the league.
The entertainment goliaths have essentially been significant others for decades, ESPN broadcasting league games on Sunday nights, Monday nights and, more recently, via select streaming opportunities through the years. “NFL Live” is an hour-long afternoon show that’s a staple of the network’s weekday lineup, and the cable giant’s morning shows typically devote the bulk of their air time to NFL news and analysis.
NFL Network original programming, along with its workforce, has been steadily reduced for years. Despite its new campus adjacent to SoFi Stadium − home of the Rams and Chargers − in Inglewood, California, “GMFB,” which now runs two hours (it was once four hours), is currently the only regular studio show in the NFLN lineup year-round. The nightly “The Insiders” show replaced “NFL Total Access,” which had been the network’s long-running equivalent of ‘SportsCenter,’ but is essentially aired from the homes of its reporters as the league opted to cut the production costs associated with doing a studio show. During the season, the network does a stripped-down Sunday night highlights show and daily fantasy show.
Yet it didn’t even send Eisen and Hall of Fame analyst Kurt Warner to Canton, Ohio, last weekend to anchor this year’s Hall of Fame inductions. Original ‘GMFB’ cast member Kyle Brandt wore a ‘SportsCenter’ shirt on Monday’s broadcast.
There were no details Tuesday regarding the impact on programming or on-air talent, though the marriage will obviously create opportunities − along with redundancies. Multiple people at NFL Media told USA TODAY Sports that rumors of the move have lingered for months and created an environment of uncertainty. They were granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
The NFL will continue to own and operate NFL Films, which has churned out 141 Sports Emmys during its existence and helped mythologize the sport over the decades. However its footprint on NFL Network has dwindled in recent years as shows like ‘NFL 360,’ ‘NFL Top 10’ and ‘A Football Life’ wound down. This year, its annual ‘NFL’s Top 100 Players’ − a series underpinned by player surveys to determine the league’s top stars − is being distributed on X rather than airing on NFLN.
Naturally, another major concern is how the league’s seedier issues will be covered.
In past years, ESPN has done deep dives into troubling NFL stories, such as the highly controversial tenure of former Washington owner Daniel Snyder or the ramifications of concussions, with hard-hitting, in-depth investigative pieces − both on air and digitally. NFL Network rarely delved into such topics, particularly when an owner like Snyder or the New England Patriots’ Robert Kraft was in the headlines. How such stories are reported on ESPN in the future will invite further scrutiny given the league’s ownership stake.
NFL Network itself has been plagued for years by the dismissal of former players turned analysts who got into trouble behind the scenes or elsewhere, a list that includes Michael Irvin, Willie McGinest, Marshall Faulk, Warren Sapp, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans, among others.
“Since its launch in 2003, NFL Network has provided millions of fans unprecedented access to the sport they love,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
“Whether it was debuting Thursday Night Football, televising the (Scouting) Combine, or telling incredible football stories through original shows and breaking news, NFL Network has delivered. The Network’s sale to ESPN will build on this remarkable legacy, providing more NFL football for more fans in new and innovative ways.”
But how that legacy is shaped moving forward, especially regarding matters that can tarnish the reputation of America’s favorite, by far, sports league remains to be seen.
Per the NFL and ESPN, the “transactions are subject to the parties’ negotiation of definitive agreements, various approvals including by the NFL team owners, and customary closing conditions.”