• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

ESPN and the NFL Enter Deal Heat

Once again, ESPN and the NFL are in renewed negotiations for the former to take on the latter’s media assets. What’s changed since the last time these dance partners played footsie? More linear decline, Flagship, and maybe the Draft going up for bidding, too.

NFL
In coming to market with only two linear channels, the league has found itself at the mercy of traditional distributors, like Comcast and DirecTV, to set the terms. That would change if NFL Network and NFL RedZone are matched up with ABC and ESPN. Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
John Ourand
February 11, 2025

The NFL may be the most powerful entity in media these days, but it seems not even the Shield is immune to the ravages of cord-cutting. It was nearly four years ago that commissioner Roger Goodell retained Goldman Sachs to look into selling a group of the league’s assets, including NFL Network, NFL RedZone, NFL.com, and its fantasy business. And while the league has talked to every one of its media partners about the properties since the spring of 2021, there has been little interest. ESPN had demonstrated the most curiosity, but 18 months of on-again, off-again talks had reached an impasse by the middle of last year. In September, as the 2024 season kicked off, the NFL folded its tent and back-burnered the soliciting of any such sale.