On October 22, the NFL announced it approved a massive Disney & ESPN media deal. It now faces government approval before being finalized.
Disney & ESPN Media Deal with NFL
The monumental agreement, which was finalized back in August, would give ESPN control of the NFL Network among other assets, while giving the NFL a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
On Wednesday, Sports Business Journal reported on the NFL owners’ approval of the deal.
The next step is a government antitrust review process, which has no projected close date. The companies involved have all pledged full cooperation.
There’s a number of steps in a transaction like this and a number of those steps we don’t control. So we’re going to do all that we can. We’re going to cooperate, we’re going to partner, and in the meantime, we’re going to continue to run our business and work with all our partners as we always would. But certainly when it does close, I think we’re really excited.
Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution
NBC Sports noted that, “There previously was a sense that the owners hadn’t voted to approve the deal in order to avoid create the impression that they were being presumptuous.”
Should this deal get government approval, ESPN would likely air its first Super Bowl for the 2026-27 year, alongside Disney-owned ABC.
In August, ESPN also struck a new deal to become the domestic home of all WWE Premium Live Events in 2026, including WrestleMania.
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