NFL To Take 10 Percent, An Estimated $3 Billion Stake, In ESPN As Part of Landmark Agreement

The NFL and ESPN announced a non-binding agreement on Tuesday in which the league will take a 10 percent stake in ESPN in exchange for control of key NFL Media assets.

Neither the NFL nor ESPN parent company Disney disclosed the value of the ESPN stake. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, "Analysts have estimated ESPN’s valuation at between $25 billion and $30 billion, putting the NFL’s piece in the $2.5 billion to $3 billion range."

As part of the deal, ESPN will acquire additional NFL games, NFL Network, the NFL’s linear RedZone Channel, and NFL Fantasy. Under a second non-binding agreement, the NFL will license additional intellectual properties to ESPN.

"In total, ESPN’s platforms will license an additional three NFL games per season to air on NFL Network as a result of today’s news. In addition, ESPN will adjust its overall NFL game schedule, with four games (including some from overlapping windows) shifting to the NFL Network, which will continue to present seven games per season," ESPN said in a press release. 

ESPN is expected to operate NFL Network similarly to how it runs SEC Network with complementary, niche programming.

What's unclear is whether ESPN will offer RedZone as part of its eventual $29.99 direct-to-consumer streaming service. While that was rumored to be the case, the NFL said on Thursday that it would retain the rights to distribute NFL RedZone digitally.

In theory, the deal is a win for both sides, while undoubtedly raising concerns about how ESPN (the most powerful sports media company in the country) covers the NFL (the most powerful sports league in the country). 

Regardless of what either side claims, the NFL's equity stake in ESPN will compromise the media company's ability to report honestly about scandalous stories surrounding the league, its owners, and commissioners.

OutKick Senior NFL Writer Armando Salguero commented on this issue on Friday.

"This deal calls into question some age-old journalism questions that apparently neither the NFL nor ESPN believe valid, or they wouldn't have done this deal," Salguero wrote. "With the NFL getting a stake in ESPN, the idea that it is covering the league as an independent, outside information source is no longer valid."

NEW ORLEANS - Fans cheer at an ESPN broadcast ahead of Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on February 7, 2025. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There are also questions about what the deal means for various NFL Network personalities, specifically reporters like Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, who have long competed with Adam Schefter for up-to-the-minute breaking news. 

Will ESPN keep the top three insiders under one umbrella? Will the reporters want to work together, instead of competing? 

Sources tell OutKick that ESPN has not decided how it plans to handle the influx of incoming NFL Network reporters and personalities. That said, ESPN is expected to retain NFL Network host Rich Eisen, who recently signed a separate deal to license his podcast with ESPN, starting in the fall.

Finally, the agreement between the NFL and ESPN will require federal regulatory approval from the Trump administration. 

Check back with OutKick for further analysis on the deal.