• Loading stock data...
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Front Office Sports Honors winners are here! View the 2025 winners

Broadcasting With Benefits: Networks Gaining League Equity Is Now the Norm

ESPN gained an equity stake in the PLL as part of a media rights deal. That’s becoming common—and one huge potential deal is looming.

Premier Lacrosse League

Billion-dollar sports leagues and their media partners like to refer to each other as “partners,” despite buyers and sellers being more accurate descriptions. But there’s a new trend reshaping their longtime relationships. Namely, media partners taking equity stakes in the leagues they televise and cover.

On Wednesday, Disney-owned ESPN and the Premier Lacrosse League announced a five-year extension of their current rights deal starting with the 2026 season. But the most interesting wrinkle was their joint statement that ESPN was making a “minority equity investment” in the PLL. That’s no outlier. It’s part of a growing trend of leagues and media partners forging true financial relationships. Consider:

  • Both ESPN and PLL declined to comment on the size of ESPN’s investment. But CNBC reports it will likely give the four letters a 3% stake in the fast-growing PLL. “ESPN are not only experts in their understanding of sports fans, but they are also great predictors of audience and growth,” PLL cofounder and president Paul Rabil told CNBC. “It’s validating that they came in to invest in what we’re building, and then as a partner, in addition to the expansion of coverage that they’ll be giving.”
  • When Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports reached a multiyear media deal with Unrivaled last October, it also revealed an undisclosed equity stake in the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league. 
  • Besides broadcasting UFL spring football games, Fox Sports owns half of the eight-team league. The other half is owned by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, former XFL chair Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners. (RedBird IMI is also an investor in Front Office Sports.)
  • In what could be the grandaddy of all network-to-league equity deals, Disney is closing in on a deal to acquire NFL Media from the NFL in exchange for an equity stake in ESPN. Among other things, the deal would give ESPN the rights to the highly addictive NFL RedZone with Scott Hanson.

What’s going on? Both leagues and networks are starting to see these deals as win-win propositions, experts tell me.

If smaller leagues like the PLL and UFL give their media partners an ownership slice, they’re more likely to get coverage and attention on a major sports network such as ESPN or Fox. Just ask the NHL. 

Pro hockey was breaking through into the mainstream during its first run on ESPN from 1992 to 2004. But when the NHL left ESPN, ESPN dropped almost all coverage. Now the two have a relationship again—and viewers are seeing not only games but also analysis from commentators such as Mark Messier and P.K. Subban.  

Boasting an ownership partnership with an established network like ESPN, Fox, or TNT also gives start-up leagues instant credibility with corporate sponsors on Madison Avenue. 

For networks like ESPN, it’s about “owning the means of production,” says Eric Jackson, president of the tech-focused hedge fund EMJ Capital. 

Getting into bed financially with league partners gives networks more of a say on the cost of their media-rights fees. It helps guard them against being outbid for those rights by competitors—and a guaranteed stream of content for their channels. They also get a chance to actually capitalize on the financial success if a league like the PLL explodes in popularity.

“What is a sports media company like ESPN these days? Do they own the viewers? Do they own the leagues? They are passing through a lot of the value from the viewers to the players and leagues, but seeing their share shrink over time. And there is no loyalty anymore from the viewers to the channels like there used to be,” Jackson told me. “People are learning how to stream an NFL game on Peacock. So why should they care about ESPN? These investments are small ways of the channels keeping a toehold on these leagues—and rights to broadcast them in the future.”

One more thing on ESPN and the deal for NFL Media: Taking the league’s media operation off its hands should give ESPN leverage when The Shield renegotiates its media deals—and more protection if a streamer tries to steal away Monday Night Football. Would WBD have lost U.S. media rights to the NBA in the U.S. if it were an equity partner with the league? We’ll never know. But it would not have hurt.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Annual Football Season Tradition: A High-Stakes Media Blackout Fight

The ongoing Fox–YouTube TV dispute marks an annual media tradition.

6 Burning Questions About Reimagined MLB Rights Deals

MLB’s rights are changing significantly, but questions still remain.
exclusive

Ohio State Bars Dave Portnoy From Stadium in Fox Debut

Portnoy will appear on “Big Noon Kickoff” but not inside the stadium.

YouTube TV, Fox Standoff Puts CFB Viewers in Jeopardy

Subscribers could find themselves without access to marquee matchups.

Featured Today

‘You’re Going to Get Beat Up’: The Liberty’s All-Male Practice Squad

A select group suits up weekly to take on the defending champs.
August 24, 2025

The Honey Deuce Effect: How Tennis Perfected the Signature Cocktail

Sold every 1.5 seconds, they total more than $12 million in sales.
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) warms up as the Texas Longhorns prepare to play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoffs at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
August 23, 2025

Schools Are Hesitant to Allow PE Into Their Athletic Departments

Regardless of budget, schools don’t believe the risk is worth the reward.
Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti speaks with the media during the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
August 22, 2025

‘Not Ready to Jump In’: Power 4 Commissioners Aren’t Sold on PE

Top leaders in college sports have yet to see a satisfactory proposal.

Netflix to Stream Entire 2026 World Baseball Classic in Japan

Netflix picks up Japanese rights to the upcoming international tournament.
August 24, 2025

Bill Belichick Tells UNC Football Team Hulu Series Is Happening

FOS reported last month that the Hulu series was nearing finalization.
August 25, 2025

Former Tennis Channel CEO Sues Sinclair Over Voided 8-Figure Payday

The former network executive cites a financial pretext to his firing.
Sponsored

Building A Pro League From Scratch

Front Office Sports and Gainbridge® spotlight what it takes to build a professional women’s soccer league.
Jul 13, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announces the pick for the Athletics pick during the MLB Draft at The Coca-Cola Roxy.
August 21, 2025

MLB Confident New Rights Will Exceed $550M ESPN Deal

MLB would redistribute rights forfeited by ESPN back in February.
August 21, 2025

NBC’s MLB Chase Built on Vision for Yearlong Sunday Night Sports

NBC Sports is gunning for a Sunday night slate rivaling “The Sopranos.”
August 21, 2025

Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica on Fox Changes, New Studio, Working With Portnoy

Fallica is in his third year as Fox’s sports betting expert.
August 20, 2025

Rich Eisen Will Host More ‘SportsCenters’ After Standout Return

Eisen’s nostalgia-oriented Monday “SportsCenter” drew rave reviews.