NFL owners have been informally told to be ready for a potential vote next month on a long-discussed acquisition of league media assets by ESPN parent company Walt Disney Co., Front Office Sports sources confirmed.
For four years, the league has considered selling in-house media holdings such as the NFL Network and NFL RedZone, among other properties, with Disney easily standing as the most engaged among major networks in the on-again, off-again process. The NFL, in turn, could also acquire an equity stake in ESPN, which would complete another long-planned initiative on the company’s side of the table to potentially bring in outside investors. It’s worth noting that longtime NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson signed a long-term extension to stay with the network.
If completed, the move would also give Disney and ESPN an important boost as the NFL is all but certain to opt out of its current domestic media-rights deals in 2029 and 2030.
ESPN, meanwhile, is preparing to debut its direct-to-consumer service, and having additional NFL content could provide a critical enhancement to that effort.
“This looks to be coming to a head, and there are some external reasons for that,” an FOS source said of the NFL.
A move to call a special league meeting outside of the typical cadence of gatherings among team owners is hardly unprecedented. In fact, it happened just a year ago as owners came together in August 2024 to approve the league’s formal entry into private equity. Other league sources, however, cautioned that nothing has been solidified this time around, and no supplemental meeting has yet been called.
Sports Business Journal initially reported the possibility of an additional meeting to address the NFL Media transaction.
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