Just hours before CEO Bob Iger was set to kick off Disney’s third quarter earnings call on Wednesday morning, the NFL and ESPN announced a blockbuster deal that will see the league take an equity stake in the 45-year-old sports-media juggernaut.
The two partners on Tuesday night confirmed that the long-simmering transaction, which gives ESPN and its nascent streaming service possession of NFL Network and RedZone Channel in exchange for a 10% stake, is now a done deal. While neither the NFL nor ESPN disclosed the precise monetary value of the league’s investment, analysts’ valuations suggest that the stake may be worth in the neighborhood of $2.4 billion.
The deal was characterized as a “non-binding agreement.”
“Today’s announcement paves the way for the world’s leading sports media brand and America’s most popular sport to deliver an even more compelling experience for NFL fans, in a way that only ESPN and Disney can,” Iger said in a release. “Commissioner [Roger] Goodell and the NFL have built outstanding media assets, and these transactions will add to consumer choice, provide viewers with even greater convenience and quality, and expand the breadth and value proposition of Disney’s streaming ecosystem.”
For his part, Goodell said the sale of NFL Network to ESPN would serve to “build on [the channel’s] remarkable legacy, providing more NFL football for more fans in new and innovative ways.”
In addition to securing a bond that effectively elevates Disney to most-favored-nation status—a perk that cannot be overstated as the NFL looks to revise its $110 billion rights packages starting in 2029—ESPN also earned the go-ahead to stream the seven regular-season games that would otherwise be exclusive to NFL Network.
While plenty of execs on both ends of the transaction will be taking victory laps between now and the official start of the 2025-26 NFL season, perhaps no one deserves his day in the sun more than ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro. Since taking the reins at the network seven years ago, the 56-year-old has served as the architect of Bristol’s boldest initiatives, steering the brand toward the horizon of a streaming-first future while bolstering a relationship with the NFL that had been less-than chummy at times under Pitaro’s predecessor.
Before resigning from his post in December 2017, former ESPN president John Skipper often seemed to delight in locking horns with NFL higher-ups, a tendency that some insiders believe was exacerbated by Skipper’s disinterest in re-upping with the league. Pitaro for his part began mending fences almost as soon as he was handed his key card.
Pitaro on Tuesday night said the deal would “fuel ESPN’s digital future,” inasmuch as it will lay the foundation “for an even more robust offering as we prepare to launch our new direct-to-consumer service.”
As part of the deal, the two partners have agreed to a second non-binding agreement, under which the NFL will license to ESPN certain in-house/proprietary content and other intellectual property to be used by NFL Network.
While the partners are still tasked with securing federal regulatory approval of the deal, a process that could eat up anywhere from nine months to a year of clock, certain consumer-facing arrangements could be in place by the time ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer platform launches at the end of the summer. Iger is expected to reveal the launch date during Disney’s quarterly address to the investment community, which is set to kick off Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.