ESPN, NFL Nearing Massive Equity Agreement
ESPN and the NFL are reportedly moving closer to a substantial agreement over equity between the two sports giants. The New York Post reported that both sides are in advanced talks over a deal that would give Roger Goodell and the league a stake of equity in the former “worldwide leader in sports.”
In exchange for ownership, ESPN will receive all of NFL Media. That includes NFL Network, NFL.com, their Films department and NFL+, which was made less than two years ago.
Their current agreement is $2.6 billion per season in exchange for 25 games of coverage, which is of course the Monday Night Football schedule among other games. The new collaboration, while close, is expected to take months to finalize.
There are many details within the league’s collective bargaining agreement that need ironing out. Of all the finer points, shared revenues between the league, its owners, and players is the biggest sticking point.
The reshuffling is a reportedly long-awaited move. Goodell and league executives have been looking to get rid of NFL Media for a while, as it was a topic of conversation during its recent negotiations. However, Amazon, CBS, Fox, NBC, and YouTube were not interested at the time. Instead, it will be going to a company that has shown some financial struggles in recent years.
The Bigger Plan:
Of course, all of this comes under the rumblings of ESPN moving to direct-to-consumer. Along with cable providers, they are looking to provide their programming directly by either the end of this year or in 2025.
ESPN+ is still available to the public, but that content is more specialized rather than mainstream major games. Another point to consider is distribution. There have been previous discussions with Apple, Amazon and Verizon but that step is still a little ways away. One way or another, this is another little breadcrumb before the Disney-owned ESPN makes a major play in the media landscape.
ESPN and the NFL are hammering down a pretty significant deal that transfers equity into the league’s hands. Be ready for even more news to come out in the next few months.
