NFL owners want ESPN to acquire NFL Media, making the prospect of a deal being reached seem more inevitable than ever.
On the latest episode of his sports media podcast, Andrew Marchand said ESPN’s potential acquisition of NFL Media is not done yet, but it’s progressing forward. According to Marchand, the deal that will include NFL RedZone is now in the red zone.
NEW POD Is outhttps://t.co/XHTIW1nXCp
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 3, 2025
“There is optimism on both sides. Nothing is completed as of yet,” Marchand said on his podcast. “If you’re ESPN, you want to do that deal because you have your direct-to-consumer. Fantasy is a big aspect of it. They could be the official home of fantasy football, which you can put that NFL logo on everything, and that helps you.
“NFL Network gives you some content even though they cut a million shows, but they still have good people like Ian Rapoport. Good Morning Football is not what it was, but you still have that show. And then eight games is a big deal. The NFL owners, they want to do this. They’ve been trying to unload NFL Media for a while it feels like a good thing for ESPN to have that further relationship with the NFL going forward.”
ESPN and the NFL have been in talks regarding the acquisition of NFL Media for more than a year. The talks have stopped and started several times, with recent reports estimating ESPN’s potential acquisition of NFL Media is believed to be for as much as $2 billion. Additionally, the NFL could gain an ownership stake in the network.
The ability of ESPN to gain more assets for its direct-to-consumer service while landing NFL branding for its fantasy products are both reasons why the Worldwide Leader is pushing for this deal to happen. And as a standalone sports entity, ESPN needs the NFL’s support if it’s going to continue competing with Netflix and Amazon for sports rights into the future.
But nothing seems more important to this potential acquisition than NFL owners being ready for it to happen. If the owners want to unload NFL Media, then regardless of how many times these talks have stopped and started again, the league will ultimately make sure it unloads NFL Media.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com