Business as Usual at NFL Network as ESPN Era Begins

It was no April Fool’s Day joke.

The NFL Network’s memorable 23-year run as a league-owned 24/7 cable network ended Wednesday as ESPN and the Walt Disney Co. assumed ownership in exchange for a 10% equity stake in ESPN.  

But there was little drama as NFL Network, once touted as a round-the-clock football-focused rival to ESPN, ended its long run with a business-as-usual type day.

Why? Because the NFL Network as we know it is not going away, according to new ESPN management. 

Football fans will still get the wildly popular NFL RedZone Channel with Scott Hanson next season. The popular Hanson isn’t going anywhere after signing a long-term contract extension.

As previously reported by Front Office Sports, NFL Network will still offer its own individual coverage of the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh from April 23-25. The network’s flagship morning show, Good Morning Football, appears to be unchanged.

While ESPN officially assumed the contracts of all on-air talents on Wednesday, digital and behind-the-scenes staffers will remain NFL Media employees. Under the landmark agreement, the league will continue to own and operate properties such as NFL Films, NFL.com, NFL Podcast Network, and the websites for all 32 clubs. Yes, ESPN now owns the rights to the RedZone brand. But NFL Media will continue to own, operate, and produce the whiparound highlights channel. 

Word on the street is that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell likes to work out while watching GMFB. The show aired as usual on Wednesday. The day before, Goodell joined Ian Rapoport, Judy Battista, Tom Pelissero, and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network’s The Insiders to salute their contributions to The Shield.

“Listen, we all evolve, right? The NFL Network evolved. You guys have been such a big part of our growth.  We’re so proud of the network,” said Goodell. “We’re glad to see it in the hands of ESPN. It’s going to make it bigger and better for all of our fans and all of you.”

Still, Rapoport called it a “pretty bittersweet” moment for a network that’s been part of the country’s most popular and powerful league since November 2003. Goodell agreed. But he noted NFL Network accomplished great things, successfully launching Thursday Night Football as a viable primetime package and giving ESPN a run for its money on NFL Draft coverage since 2006. 

“The strategy worked,” Goodell noted. “I don’t know if we would have Thursday Night Football without you-all in many ways. We were able to launch that on the NFL Network. The way you brought the draft to another perspective, raised everybody’s bar. Obviously, ESPN has been part of that for a long time. But I think you-all have brought so much innovation. Talking football 24 hours a day. Our fans loved that. I loved that. I just think you guys should walk away feeling very proud of what you did—and go do it on a bigger stage. You’re still going to be the NFL Network.”

It was a nice moment of respect for a network that made TV history. But the future won’t be all milk and cookies as some NFL Network talents face  uncertain futures. Employees will have to adjust as the signature on their paycheck switches to Mickey Mouse.

From the network’s standpoint, ESPN is taking it slow. Chairman Jimmy Pitaro and his senior leadership team shared a welcome note with all employees on Wednesday that read in part: “The addition of our NFL Network colleagues reinforces our commitment to collaboration, creative excellence and being the very best at what we do.” All NFL Network employees got a welcome package of swag from the four letters. On Wednesday, several ESPN executives were at NFL Network headquarters near Los Angeles for an information/networking session that will take place on Thursday.

Burke Magnus and Rosalyn Durant, the two most powerful executives in Bristol under Pitaro, also announced the news that five senior NFL Network executives are becoming VPs at ESPN. They are: Charlie Yook, who will oversee NFL Network as executive producer of content production; Todd Sperry, who will serve as executive editor focusing on NFL coverage; Jessica Lee, VP of production operations and engineering who will oversee the network’s Hollywood Park facilities; Tony Cole, VP of media operations who will oversee distribution, and technical operations for NFL Network; and Sarah Parsons, VP of programming and acquisitions, who will also have oversight of NFL Network.

On the talent side, ESPN is absorbing the contracts of dozens of on-air anchors, analysts, insiders, and reporters to its bottom line. But ESPN is only on the hook for the remainder of their current deals. After that, NFL Network talents will either be offered new contracts by ESPN, or their deals will expire, and they’ll be on their own.

As with all mergers, cuts are almost inevitable as ESPN finds redundancies in its dueling operations. The upcoming negotiations for Rapoport could serve as a bellwether of ESPN’s thinking, say sources. His deal is up in May. Pairing him with rival Adam Schefter could give ESPN an unbeatable one-two punch on NFL news-breaking.

Rich Eisen has served as NFL Network’s lead anchor since its inception. He had mixed emotions on Tuesday’s episode of his own show—which is already simulcast on ESPN’s streaming service via a previous agreement— saying he felt like a kid being dropped off at college for the first time.

“It’s an emotional day for a lot of us,” said the former SportsCenter anchor. “Because there’s a lot of people at the NFL Network right now wondering what is going to happen next. But it’s also the end of an era. The end of 23 years of growing this network on behalf of the NFL. And it kind of feels weird that I’m not going to be employed by The Shield anymore.”