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ESPN to get NFL Network, rights to RedZone from NFL for equity stake

ESPN is acquiring the NFL Network and other National Football League media assets, including the linear rights to the league's popular RedZone channel, in a deal that will see the NFL get a 10% equity stake in the all-sports network, it was announced Tuesday night.

ESPN will also acquire the NFL's fantasy product and merge it into its existing platform, making ESPN Fantasy Football the official game of the NFL. In a separate deal, the NFL also agreed to license to ESPN other NFL content and intellectual property that will appear on the NFL Network and other assets.

The NFL Network will be owned and operated by ESPN, which will control the network's linear and digital rights. The NFL Network will be integrated into ESPN's upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming product, and it will continue to be available on traditional pay TV providers.

"By combining these NFL media assets with ESPN's reach and innovation, we're creating a premier destination for football fans," ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. "Together, ESPN and the NFL are redefining how fans engage with the game -- anytime, anywhere. This deal helps fuel ESPN's digital future, laying the foundation for an even more robust offering as we prepare to launch our new direct-to-consumer service."

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/45 ... uity-stake

ESPN also announced today that they have acquired the WWE premium events (currently on Peacock) beginning in 2026, including Wrestlemania. WWE will also produce various special programming exclusively for ESPN.

ESPN's new service, which will be a standalone streaming service, will include all its current networks and the new NFL and WWE properties. That service will launch August 21 at a price of $29.99 a month. It's designed for people who don't want to pay 2-3 times that to get all the other cable channels on another service like YoutubeTV (which I now have) or DirecTV.

ESPN's move is a direct response to Fox's recent announcement that it's launching its own streaming service on August 21. The Fox service will include all the current Fox News and Sports channels (I'm keeping this non-political, so no commentary from me here). The Fox service, called Fox One, will not have any new content and will cost $19.99 a month. It's designed for people without any cable, satellite, or streaming service. It will include Fox's college football and NFL games, FS1 and FS2 channels, and Fox's MLB properties, including the World Series.

One part of the streaming wars will become easier in 2026. Disney, which currently offers its Disney+ and Hulu channels in various package deals, will launch a unified app sometime in 2026 that contains all the programming currently on each channel. Already, people can watch certain programming from one channel on the other. This has lead to a lot of surprisingly adult content available on Disney+. Disney hasn't officially announced it's discontinuing the standalone Hulu service, but that's expected as well.