Posted on 01/12/2024 9:16:11 PM PST by Red Badger
ESPN and the NFL are in advanced talks that could result in the league taking an equity stake in ESPN, The Post has learned.
As part of a potential agreement, Disney-owned ESPN would take control of NFL Media, which includes NFL Network, and the league would receive equity in ESPN.
For the long-term viability of ESPN aligning with the most powerful sports league would enhance its position as the network plans to move to direct to consumer by 2025.
While the idea of an ESPN-NFL alliance has been mentioned before, discussions between Disney-owned ESPN and the NFL are far enough along that sources said that owners and the Players Association are being informed about the talks.
The owners and players need to be involved in the equity agreement because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the two sides that calls for them to share revenues. It is unclear of how an equity stake in ESPN would be accounted for in the CBA.
It still could take months for a deal to be finalized. Both ESPN and the NFL declined comment.
The NFL has been trying to unload its network for years now. In its recent talks that resulted in its $110-plus billion deals with ESPN, Amazon, CBS, Fox, NBC and YouTube, the NFL searched for a buyer, but was unsuccessful.
NFL Media consists of NFL Network, NFL.com, Red Zone, NFL Films and NFL+.
Since ESPN covers the league thoroughly, there would be synergies if the two sides are able to reach an agreement. Disney/ESPN might be able to secure better carriage arrangements for NFL Network.
ESPN has targeted 2025 as the most likely year it will go direct-to-consumer.
It is still possible it could move up the date to end of this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The Super Bowl on ESPN+? You’ll have to pay $100 to watch the game.
They will kill the golden goose................
I agree. But they're stupid enough to do it.
ESPN sucks. The NFL would be crazy to buy into that sh!tshow.
The NFL is doing it because they're greedy enough to try to make more money. The billions they're making now is not enough for them.
They have a product that people are willing to pay for. They’re growing. I’m using my money elsewhere. Good luck to them.
And that’s how Disney buys Hulu.
Remember when boxing used to be on TV?
I watched Larry Holmes bash the hell out of Tex Cobb for 15 rounds... Tex didn’t drop... He should’ve dropped and anybody with a normal skull would’ve dropped, but Tex’s skull was thicker than most and afterwards his face looked like raw bloody hamburger. It was a spectacle of the bizarre and afterwards Howard Cosell announced that he would never call another boxing match... And he never did.
Since they started charging money to watch boxing... I haven’t watched a boxing match since.
The NFL will always make money whether or not we watch, or don’t watch. When they go the way of ‘pay for view’ it will be a sad day for us and even sadder day for the NFL.
Over 35-40 years we have bought lots of NFL swag for our team.
Made sure it had the Official NFL hologram label and all.
Now they don’t want us to watch?
Screw them......................
Yep, remember the Friday Night Fights back in the 50’s and 60’s................
Seems to me the way to thwart that would be to have a homeowner and friends share the cost of the ppv. The NFL gets fewer actual views yet more people watch.
The NFL is bound and determined to destroy its brand with its greed...the letters should stand for Not For Long.
I think I have watched the equivalent of about 50 plays of NFL football this season. NFL/ESPN issues don’t matter to me. They could disappear and I would barely notice.
I read the article and came away with a different impression. It looks like the NFL is doing this as a way to off-load their own NFL Network, which they’ve been trying to do for years. From what I’ve read about the matter, the NFL simply ran out of patience in dealing with all the disputes they’ve had with individual cable TV companies over carriage contracts and fees. They want to give up the network in exchange for a stake in ESPN because ESPN already has extensive coverage through its existing contracts.
Same here - I’m amazed at all the supposed Capitalists here that are pissed off about Capitalism in progress because it inconveniences them personally - they seem to think it’s a sin to make people pay to watch a ball game...I wonder how many of them ought the “NFL Ticket” to be able to see extra games...
The kneeling, the wokeness, the over amount of commercials, most of the time I don’t even comprehend what they are advertizing, the softness of the game, make it flag football, and the refs and questionable calls...Tinfoil hat but I really believe most games are rigged. This {pay to watch) is too far. We only have games on for noise anyway...can’t stand it.
Who said they don’t want you to watch? Really you guys are going off entirely on your own assumptions.
Sure the NFL wants to go direct, because they can do math. If a network will pay them a billion dollars a year for broadcast rights that must mean the network can make MORE THAN a billion broadcasting it. If the NFL cuts out the middle man they get the MORE THAN.
The reality is that unless you’re a 100% over the air TV watcher you already pay for the NFL. Even if you don’t watch it. However you get TV pays the networks that show the NFL and they pay the NFL. All the NFL is looking at is instead of you paying your cable company to give money to CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN, all of whom then turn around to give money to the NFL what if you gave less money out of your pocket to the NFL but they got more because we’ve now cutout the middlemen. It’s a solid business decision IF they can figure out the distribution method and price point.
The results will determine how aggressive they get on the next "pay for" NFL product.
There were so many millions of people that already had Amazon Prime before the NFL started Thursday night football, that they couldn't get a real test from that viewing audience.
The NFL will get it's booty regardless, the question is can they make more from commercial TV or pay for view?
The next step will be pay for view with commercials {they already have a version of that on Prime Thursdays} until the paying customer stops buying the over priced product.
The NFL is a nest of corruption that corrupts everything it touches, especially colleges that feature football.
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