There is still a long way to go before it goes into effect, but the sale of NFL Network and RedZone to ESPN has officially been announced.
ESPN and the NFL said Tuesday evening that they have reached a “non-binding agreement” under which ESPN will acquire NFL Network, linear rights to NFL RedZone and additional NFL Media properties in exchange for the NFL taking a ten percent equity stake in the network. The announcement is the culmination of nearly two full years of talks that were first reported by Andrew Marchand in January of last year.
Under the deal, ESPN will assume full ownership of NFL Network both on a linear and digital basis, with the league-branded channel to be “fully integrated” into ESPN’s new direct-to-subscriber platform. ESPN will acquire the right to distribute NFL RedZone on linear television, but the NFL will continue to own and produce the popular whiparound show and distribute it digitally. The NFL will also continue to own its NFL+ streaming service, NFL.com and the 32 team sites, its podcast network and its FAST channel.
NFL Network will continue to carry seven regular season NFL games per year, but four of those will come out of ESPN’s existing inventory — with the announcement specifically mentioning ‘overlapping windows,’ almost certainly referring to the Monday Night Football doubleheaders that have not performed well in the ratings. The other three will be licensed to ESPN by the NFL.
With existing ESPN inventory accounting for more than half of the NFL Network games, it would seem likely that the league will be able to free up ‘free agent’ game windows to sell to other media partners.
In addition to NFL Network and RedZone, ESPN is also picking up NFL Fantasy Football, with plans to merge it with the company’s existing fantasy football service.
The announcement Tuesday did not include any date by which the deal is expected to go into effect. The deal still needs to be finalized and approved by NFL team owners before even entering the regulatory review stage, which based on the Paramount-Skydance merger could be onerous.
Disney CEO Bob Iger touted the deal as providing “viewers with even greater convenience and quality,” while ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said it would help “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.”
