NFL, ESPN Finalize Landmark Deal After Federal Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — The NFL, ESPN, and network parent company Disney have closed on their large-scale agreement that gives the league equity in the sports media giant and ESPN control over the NFL Network. 

Nearly six months after first striking the expansive deal, the parties received federal government approval, including from the U.S. Department of Justice, on the pact. ESPN will acquire NFL Network, as well as rights to distribute NFL RedZone to pay-TV operators, while the league gains a 10% equity stake in ESPN—a holding valued in the billions of dollars. The network will also take over the NFL’s fantasy football operations and merge them with its own. 

The full changeover for NFL Network will not happen until April, and those employees of NFL Media who work there will become part of ESPN. Front Office Sports previously reported the deal was firmly in line for an early 2026 completion. 

“With the closing, we will begin integrating NFL employees into ESPN in the months ahead,” ESPN and the NFL said in a joint statement. “As we look to the future, NFL fans can look forward to expanded NFL programming, greater access to NFL Network, innovative fantasy experiences, and unparalleled coverage of America’s most popular sport.”

NFL Network, created in 2003 and now holding nearly 50 million subscribers, will become part of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service that debuted last summer.

With the combination of ESPN with NFL Network, the outlet will now show 28 NFL games per season, including three from NFL Network, and the most in ESPN’s history. The league, however, retained rights to four international games previously shown by the NFL Network and will now look to resell those rights—potentially to one or more streaming outlets. 

The NFL, meanwhile, will still operate NFL Films, NFL.com, and other related digital assets, and it will continue to produce NFL RedZone.

The agreement leaves ESPN’s equity split of 72% controlled by Disney and its subsidiaries, 18% by Hearst, and 10% with the NFL. 

Looking Ahead

The deal’s completion arrived about 36 hours before Disney is due to report its fiscal first quarter earnings early Monday. 

In addition to hearing more about this NFL pact and the progress of ESPN’s DTC efforts, investors are eager to know more about the succession plan for outgoing CEO Bob Iger. His current contract ends Dec. 31, 2026, and Disney is expected to reveal its future leadership plan well before then. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iger will also end daily management of Disney before the end of the year.

The Super Bowl LX week in the Bay Area, meanwhile, will culminate with a large-scale handoff toward next year’s NFL title game in Los Angeles, which will be the first aired by ESPN. That Super Bowl in February 2027, a landmark event in ESPN’s 46-year history, will be further buttressed by the inclusion of the NFL assets. 

Separately, the league expected to opt out of its current media rights deals early, including with ESPN, and begin talks this year on new and more lucrative pacts.