EverPass has struck a multiyear agreement with ESPN to distribute the Disney sports group’s ESPN+ package for bars, restaurants and other commercial businesses. The new pact will grant access to games from the NBA, NHL, LaLiga, college sports from major conferences and more beginning in October.
The ESPN+ service for businesses differs from the legacy direct-to-consumer service that was recently absorbed into ESPN’s new D2C offering, previously nicknamed “Flagship,” that launched in late August.
It’s not immediately clear if or when ESPN’s Monday Night Football slate will be available, though according to EverPass, the company is in the right position to expand the partnership and include those games. ESPN had been the lone holdout in granting EverPass access to its NFL games, while the league’s other traditional media partners—CBS, Fox and NBC—have done so.
Last Wednesday, EverPass announced its renewals with the league’s streaming media partners, giving commercial establishments access to Netflix for its Christmas games, Prime Video for Thursday Night Football and the Black Friday game, and Peacock for its exclusive matchup in late December. The company was also able to distribute the Week 1 YouTube exclusive game from Brazil where the Los Angeles Chargers beat the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs.
EverPass’ primary offering to commercial businesses is the distribution of NFL Sunday Ticket through DirecTV, but it also provides access to sporting events through existing relationships with cable and satellite companies.
The new agreement comes after a stream of arrangements involving both the NFL and ESPN. The league bought a 10% stake of ESPN in August in a deal years in the making. As part of the deal, ESPN now owns NFL Network and NFL RedZone. The NFL is a stakeholder in Skydance, which acquired Paramount Global this summer, meaning that the league has equity in another broadcast partner, CBS.
EverPass itself is a joint venture launched in 2023 between the league’s venture capital arm 32 Equity and RedBird Capital Partners. RedBird also backed the Paramount merger. WWE and UFC parent company TKO invested in EverPass in 2024.
The new agreement gives EverPass the right to carry UFC Fight Nights on ESPN, including preliminary bouts and main cards, through the end of December. The MMA promotion’s media deal with ESPN expires at the end of the year (it signed a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount in August).