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ESPN could soon take control of NFL Network

From what I see, the NFL gets equity in ESPN, while ESPN gets control over NFL Media.

Except that ESPN is not a separate entity. Yet. This sounds to me like it's a whole lot more complicated than what this article says. In another thread, there's been a discussion about ESPN spinning off from Disney. How would that happen in terms of ESPN and ABC Sports. This may be part of the future of ESPN without Disney. The question is how does that fit in with the other sports that ESPN does, such as MLB, NBA, and NHL. If the NFL gets equity in ESPN, I could see the other sports also wanting similar deals. Plus what about the NFL's TV deals with CBS, NBC, and Fox? Lots of questions.
 
That's the problem with Awful Announcing, Cord Cutters News and similar websites that cover TV and radio. They don'r really do journalism of their own, just gather news releases and read reports from other outlets and make stories out of them, adding spin as needed. Those two are usually pretty good about getting it right, but both have had to publish retractions or corrections when the source material their editors/compilers draw from turns out to have been not quite correct.
 
CTListener said:
That's the problem with Awful Announcing, Cord Cutters News and similar websites that cover TV and radio. They don'r really do journalism of their own, just gather news releases and read reports from other outlets and make stories out of them
Click to expand...

I agree with that, which is why I then went to the original story in the New York Post:

nypost.com

Exclusive | ESPN, NFL in advanced talks on agreement that could give league stake in TV giant

If an agreement goes through, NFL Media, which includes NFL Network, would fall under the Disney umbrella.
nypost.com nypost.com

Reading that story, I'm still unsure how you get equity in a division of another company. My thinking is they might get equity in NFL content on ESPN. The article makes it sound like ESPN would remain a division of the Walt Disney Company, and would help the NFL Network "secure carriage agreements." In other words, package the NFL with ESPN, Disney, and other cable networks of WDC.
 
This will never happen for many reasons. ESPN would lose all integrity as a news organization. The other network partners would baulk at this. The NFL doesn't want to manage their media divisions so they want to find someone else to do it.
 
NFL Network no longer has a reason to exist. All the programming, other than talk shows, that used to run on NFLN has been sold to bigger networks.
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
NFL Network no longer has a reason to exist. All the programming, other than talk shows, that used to run on NFLN has been sold to bigger networks.
Click to expand...

I agree with part of that. The original live play by play is aired elsewhere. BUT the NFL Network is where you get The Red Zone. That's the main reason I watch. They start their pre-game show at a time when the TV networks are either running church services or news shows. And they rerun the games after the first airing, which can be helpful. So there's value in having the channel.

The bigger part of this deal with NFL Media is access to NFL Films, which is extremely valuable for ESPN.
 
This is not a new concept. Warner Brothers Discovery runs and programs NBATV for the Association. I know for at least the last three years.
 
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