It Could Get Much Harder for ESPN to Objectively Cover the NFL

Apparently, we’re living through a season of major media deals right now. The Skydance-Paramount merger has garnered most of the headlines, followed by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signing a massive deal for their show’s streaming rights. On Friday afternoon, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported on another massive transaction in the works, one that would see ESPN acquire several properties from the NFL in exchange for the league getting a stake in the network.

The Athletic cited anonymous sources and predicted that a formal announcement would be made next week, possibly during Disney’s upcoming earnings call. Marchand wrote that, as part of the deal, ESPN would obtain “access to RedZone, NFL Network, seven more regular-season games, the NFL’s fantasy football business” — along with the possibility of adding “more assets” and the ability to incorporate betting.

As for what the league gets out of it, The Athletic cited its sources in stating that the NFL would receive “up to 10 percent of ESPN equity.”

This begs the question: How will ESPN cover the NFL’s operations if the NFL is part of its ownership group? If a franchise is criticized for its handling of domestic violence accusations against a player — or a team’s owner is sued over racist comments — could there be pressure from the network’s stakeholders to avoid covering a story that casts the league in an unflattering light?

College Football Playoff Reportedly Agrees to ESPN Contract Through 2031

The extension would begin in 2026

This is not an issue exclusive to the NFL. Precisely how The Washington Post covers Amazon has been a subject of much scrutiny ever since Jeff Bezos bought the newspaper in question. And while the Post has published some unflattering stories about the retailing giant, there’s always going to be the perception that punches are being pulled. ESPN remains a go-to destination for many for breaking news all over the sports world. If its ability to cover the country’s most popular sports league is compromised, that’s bad news for all involved.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…