ESPN has reached a woody pinch nan NFL to acquisition RedZone, NFL Network and different convention holdings, nan Athletic reported connected Friday.
The NFL will person equity successful ESPN that “is perchance worthy billions” successful exchange, according to nan report. An charismatic announcement is expected adjacent week, ending a four-year play of complicated, on-and-off negotiations.
Both sides declined to supply remark to nan Athletic.
In summation to RedZone and NFL Network, ESPN will summation entree to 7 much regular-season games and nan NFL’s imagination shot operations, arsenic good arsenic nan imaginable to merge sports betting and different typical features.
The NFL’s equity liking successful ESPN could beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic 10%, CNBC first reported and nan Athletic confirmed.
An ESPN-NFL woody would require regulatory approval, a process that could return up to a twelvemonth to complete.
The 2 sides already person a cozy relationship. ESPN pays nan NFL astir $2.7bn per twelvemonth to aerial a full of 25 games, including Monday Night Football. The web besides holds nan authorities to nan Super Bowls successful 2027 and 2031.
Friday’s reported statement comes arsenic ESPN is preparing to motorboat its direct-to-consumer service, pinch subscribers paying $29.99 per period to bypass cablegram and outer providers to position each of nan network’s programming done nan ESPN app.