ESPN has officially struck a deal with the National Football League.
According to Awful Announcing, the Disney-owned network has reached an agreement with the league to acquire several NFL properties, including the NFL Network and RedZone channel. The deal marks the end to negotiations that go back as far as four years ago.
On the NFL’s side, the league now has an ownership stake in ESPN, which was previously reported at 10% by CNBC, an amount that could potentially be worth billions of dollars.
The timing of the deal coincides with the imminent release of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service this fall, which is set to be called simply, “ESPN.”
The partnership between ESPN and the NFL may not fully go into effect until the 2026 season due to the process of going through regulatory approval. The 2026 season will also finish with ESPN hosting its first Super Bowl in February 2027.
Fans reacted to the massive deal on social media.
“I swear if I have to listen to Greeny or Stephen A do RedZone I’ll die,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“If they do not keep Scott Hanson… or worse… they replace Scott Hanson without someone like Stephen A…. it would be the end for the NFL,” someone else predicted.
“ESPN hasn’t produced a good program since 2012. Red Zone is the only reason equity in ESPN might be worth anything, and they are probably gonna ruin it,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see how ESPN treats its new NFL properties.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.