When it comes to milestone moments in the history of ESPN, there are a few worth considering as the most important. Certainly there’s the launch of the first all-sports cable network back in 1979. Another seminal date is the acquisition of a full season of NFL rights in 1987. From the business side, Disney’s acquisition in 1996 has certainly stood the test of time.
When all is said and done, August 2025 may go down in the history books as another one of those times that changed ESPN forever.
The WorldWide Leader in Sports has never dropped so much news at once. And all of the events of this week have an enormous effect on ESPN’s present and future business. Bristol has a new equity partner, a forever relationship with the biggest sports league in the country, future expansion potential, a date for their brand new streaming platform, and a new rights relationship with WWE.
Here are all of the key developments in one place.
ESPN buys NFL Network in exchange for 10% equity stake
The biggest development of all was the official unveiling of ESPN’s deal with NFL Media. ESPN now owns NFL Network and can distribute RedZone as a Disney channel to linear providers. In exchange, the NFL has a 10% equity stake in the network.
This is not Hearst Communications or Nabisco, or even Getty Oil, who have all owned stakes in ESPN at one point or another. This is the National Football League we are talking about here – the most popular sports or entertainment brand in America. In fact, the 10% equity stake that the NFL bought in ESPN is projected to be worth roughly the same as what the network pays the NFL for one year of Monday Night Football rights.
Forget the equity stake, what could be most important in the long run is the relationship between the NFL and ESPN. With the two now being fully tied together, ESPN will have the first seat for every NFL rights negotiation moving forward. And there’s no more valuable television inventory than NFL games. Already in this deal, the network is increasing their national NFL game windows from 25 to 28 between ESPN and NFL Network.
So in exchange for the 10% equity stake, ESPN not only gets NFL Network, it also secures their long-term future as a valued broadcast and business partner for the league, take for instance the also announced extension of NFL Draft rights. And that may just be priceless.
RedZone branding expansion?
One of the more complex components of the deal is the NFL RedZone channel. The NFL will still technically own and operate the channel and Scott Hanson is going nowhere as its host. However, ESPN will be able to cash in on the linear RedZone business and include the channel and NFL Network in all Disney carriage negotiations moving forward. With so much focus on DTC and streaming, that’s important for the remaining tens of millions of cable and satellite subscribers that Bristol still depends upon.
Perhaps more significantly is the RedZone branding that ESPN now possesses. This opens the door to a further expansion of the product. And already the sports world is abuzz over the possibilities of ESPN launching a college football RedZone Channel. While it’s not imminent or even confirmed to be in the planning stages, just the possibility of its future existence already has fans excited.
Launch date for DTC platform
The NFL Network acquisition is a significant marker laid down for ESPN’s upcoming DTC platform that will launch later this month. The direct-to-consumer gambit is years in the making as ESPN looks to reach the millions of cord cutters that have left cable and satellite providers behind. Now, ESPN will offer all of their content in one place.
Bristol has been looking for partnerships for months that could help bolster its lineup and justify its $29.99 monthly price tag. And there’s no better partner for the NFL to accomplish that. But clearly ESPN is not done. On their Tuesday earnings call, Bob Iger confirmed that ESPN is discussing future streaming bundles with other media companies that could help make the new and improved ESPN streaming offering that much more valuable for consumers.
This is not a goofy side quest like Mobile ESPN was. If all goes according to plan, the DTC platform will become a pillar of ESPN’s business model and a core component of their strategy for years to come. The success or failure of the new streaming app will be a huge story for the entire media industry to follow. And it all begins on August 21st.
ESPN inks deal for WWE PLEs
The NFL business and DTC launch were known entities for ESPN. They had either been reported about or confirmed well ahead of time. What came out of nowhere like a Randy Orton RKO was the announcement that ESPN had entered into a multi-year rights deal with WWE for their new DTC platform to become the new home of the company’s premium live events. Of course, who exactly will have access to those is still a bit of a mystery depending on your current cable, satellite, or streaming provider.
An ESPN-WWE relationship was on nobody’s radar. WWE has enjoyed varying levels of mainstream exposure throughout their history, but a partnership with ESPN is completely new territory. Incredibly, WWE was able to double their current rights deal with Peacock for their most prestigious events to the tune of $1.6 billion over five years beginning with WrestleMania 42 in 2026.
To help put the number in perspective, at $320 million per year it’s much higher than the reported $200 million per year value that ESPN placed on its current MLB contract. With SportsCenter potentially being on site at premium live events and some even airing on linear ESPN networks, it’s fair to wonder if the day is coming when WWE may even eventually get more coverage on ESPN than MLB does on a regular basis.
It’s a paradigm shift for both companies. ESPN will now fully embrace the sports entertainment world. And WWE will now firmly establish itself in both the sports and entertainment worlds. Already chief content officer Paul Levesque and WWE champion Cody Rhodes appeared on the network to celebrate the agreement. And you can now imagine a day when Stephen A. Smith will cross over to rival Paul Heyman in a future storyline.
Between the NFL, WWE, and DTC developments it’s not overstating it to say that all of this news can and likely will change the entire trajectory of ESPN moving forward.