There’s growing concern that U.S. President Donald Trump could seek to delay, or block, the long-awaited deal for the NFL to sell RedZone and other NFL Media assets to the Walt Disney Co. in a deal that would include a multi-billion-dollar equity stake in ESPN, sources tell Front Office Sports.
“What if Trump decides to stick his beak in?” said one source who declined to be named. “This is a massive deal. It will require government oversight and approval. And we all know how Trump likes to poke the NFL from time to time.”
The concerns over Trump’s reaction to the long-awaited deal might be justified. The president loves to wade into the sports arena and does not hesitate to weigh in on corporate deals. Trump recently called on the NFL’s Washington Commanders to bring back their former name. Trump also signaled on his Truth Social platform that the Commanders’ plan to build a $3.8 billion domed stadium in Washington D.C. might be contingent on the team bowing to his wishes.
There’s also been tension between Trump and Disney over ABC News coverage. Disney recently settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump against ABC after anchor George Stephanopoulos said Trump had been found “liable” for rape in cases brought by E. Jean Carroll, which misstated the verdicts. Disney threw in the towel and agreed to donate $15 million to Trump’s future presidential foundation.
Trump has feuded with the NFL and Disney before. During his first term in the White House, the president blasted the NFL for letting players kneel in protest during pregame playing of the U.S. national anthem. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now?’ Out. He’s fired. He’s FIRED!” Trump thundered to his supporters in 2017. He also threatened to strip the NFL of its “massive” tax advantages if players continued to “disrespect” the American flag.
Trump also ripped former on-air ESPN talent Jemele Hill after she described him as a bigot and white supremacist on X/Twitter. “With Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have “tanked,” in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!,” tweeted Trump. The president’s then-spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Hill’s “outrageous” comments a “fire-able” offense by ESPN. Trump also took aim at ESPN’s allegedly biased coverage, tweeting in 2017: “ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!”
Hill left ESPN in 2018.
On the other hand, the relationship between Trump and the NFL and Disney has improved lately. Trump himself proudly announced that Washington D.C., will host the 2027 NFL Draft. Despite criticism, the NFL told FOS it had “no issue” with players performing the “Trump Dance” as an on-field celebration last season. The league also allowed media partners ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and Amazon Prime Video to cover the Trump-inspired on-field celebrations as they saw fit. In May, Trump observed that Disney CEO Bob Iger visited his office to preview the Mouse House’s seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi. “It’s going to be incredible,” Trump enthused.
As owner of the former New Jersey Generals, Trump was a key figure in the USFL’s antitrust lawsuit against the NFL in the 1980s. He also tried and failed to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014. Trump said while campaigning in 2016 that he might not have run for president if he’d succeeded in acquiring the Bills.
The on-and-off negotiations between the NFL and Disney have been going on for four years. Both sides have come close to signing on the dotted line, only to back out at the last minute. Sources say the final hurdle may have been a face-to-face sitdown between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Iger this summer.
On Friday, The Athletic reported that the two sides have reached an agreement, with an announcement expected next week. The deal shapes up as a win-win for both sides, say sources. ESPN will get the popular RedZone channel, NFL Network’s slate of seven international game telecasts, the league’s fantasy football business, and a huge selling point—RedZone—for its new direct-to-consumer service launching for $29.99 this fall. It’s more difficult to cut ties with a true business partner than a media-rights partner. ESPN would form a direct business partnership with the NFL as the league weighs whether to opt out early from its media deals in 2029 and 2030. That would only help ESPN retain the Monday Night Football package and score more competitive game schedules as well as additional Super Bowls beyond its first two after the 2026 and 2030 seasons.
Disney is scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 6.
The NFL, meanwhile, could acquire up to a 10% stake in ESPN, according to CNBC. The nation’s most powerful, popular league would also be able to exit the crumbling cable TV business, which it entered with the Nov. 4, 2003 launch of the NFL Network. Team owners now make so much money from their current $110 billion media contracts, they don’t need a 24/7 owned-and-operated network anymore.
Another source said the Trump fears were overblown: “I suspect [the NFL and Disney] wouldn’t announce it if they were really worried about it.”
As the business week ended Friday, there was still radio silence inside the offices of the league and ESPN, sources told FOS. The prevailing feeling was that the deal was virtually done—but anything could still happen at the last minute. “We’ve all been down this road before,” warned another source.
The NFL, Disney, and ESPN all declined to comment. The Trump White House and Department of Justice did not respond to emails seeking comment.
