Posted on 08/06/2025 10:18:29 AM PDT by V_TWIN
ESPN is acquiring the NFL Network and other National Football League media assets, including the linear rights to the league's popular RedZone channel, in a deal that will see the NFL get a 10% equity stake in the all-sports network, it was announced Tuesday night.
ESPN will also acquire the NFL's fantasy product and merge it into its existing platform, making ESPN Fantasy Football the official game of the NFL. In a separate deal, the NFL also agreed to license to ESPN other NFL content and intellectual property that will appear on the NFL Network and other assets.
The NFL Network will be owned and operated by ESPN, which will control the network's linear and digital rights. The NFL Network will be integrated into ESPN's upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming product, and it will continue to be available on traditional pay TV providers.
"By combining these NFL media assets with ESPN's reach and innovation, we're creating a premier destination for football fans," ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. "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."
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
Now this popped up on Fox:
Regulators will get into this.
“In an era of deep partisan division, sports might be the most powerful cultural unifier we have. But those millions of fans are asking a simple question: ‘Why does it seem to be getting harder — and more expensive — to just watch the game?’” — Ted Cruz
The DOJ is investigating Disney’s deal for Fubo and so this NFL deal is likely to be investigated.
In 2018, the Trump DOJ blocked Disney from acquiring 21st Century Fox’s 22 regional sports networks on antitrust grounds, citing ESPN’s already dominant position in sports broadcasting. The concern then was that letting Disney own both national and local sports networks would reduce competition and drive up prices for fans. Now teams are pushing for local broadcast deals (Gray Television, for example, is pushing MLB, NBA, and NHL deals; the Stanley Cup Champion Florida doesn’t use an RSN but had all of their non-national televised games on WSFL 39. Their cross-state rival Tampa Bay will switch from an RSN to local, with games on WXPX. Two other NHL teams have deals with Scripps stations in the region — Utah (KUPX) and Vegas (KMCC). This now means four of the five Stanley Cup champions of this decade will be local broadcast, no RSN. Teams are switching back to local broadcasters.
Expect an investigation into Amazon (NASCAR including one major and NBA/WNBA with four WNBA Finals and four NBA Conference Finals) and Netflix (boxing, FIFA Women’s World Cup) coming soon from the government over this push for streaming because the major goal is acceptance of pornography. The Supreme Court struck down the FCC’s last attempt at anti-siphoning, but with the way Big Streaming is using sport to push purchase of X-rated material, there is an increased incentive to get people to buy inappropriate material.
I would not be surprised to see a rejection by the FTC on this deal AND a Senate hearing on the current forms of siphoning into premium pay to force acceptance of their X-rated programming.
https://www.outkick.com/analysis/regulators-could-flag-espn-nfl-deal-control-cost-competition
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/espn-nfl-deal-faces-regulatory-hurdles-2025-08-07/
Wow that story goes from ill informed to absolutely crazy pretty quick.
play pinochle..make puzzles..dance..read..garden..watch your grandkids sports.
Understanding the system allowed us to see the real issue in question. Knowing antitrust rules and how the feds have restrained ESPN under the Trump era helps. The Biden era allowed the Left’s crony newspaper to buy a major studio.
That’s not the real issue at question. Long before that merger 5 companies owned 80% of the cable networks. All that merger did was slide some channels from 1 to another. So any “antitrust” objections to that are quite simply silly.
Then the “article” goes off into complete fiction territory saying the streamers are pushing porn.
Nothing anti-trust about a newspaper buying a studio.
I hate the stadiums that Arsenal, West Ham and Tottenham play in.
My favorite EPL stadium is Fulham’s Craven Cottage.
I like the small stadiums, where you can see the row housing through gaps. I love that community team feel.
The point there was since MGM owned The Apprentice, some feared Bezos and the Bleep would use it to run anti-Trump activism with their video ownership.
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