By this point, much has already been made about the potential — if not inevitable — conflicts of interest that ESPN will face as a result of its equity deal with the NFL.
But for Stephen A. Smith, the agreement is largely business as usual.
That’s not to say that ESPN’s $100 million man isn’t aware that the NFL owning 10 percent of his employer could have its potential landmines. But to Smith, that has already been the nature of the beast in sports media, regardless of how unique the pending partnership might seem.
“We live in a different age and everybody’s in business with somebody,” Smith said during an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Wednesday. “The NFL owning 10 percent of ESPN now is obviously of extreme benefit to us and extreme benefit to them. Will it compromise journalism? I don’t think so. I look at the league contracts we’ve had with the NFL. I look at the league contracts we’ve had with the NBA, with Major League Baseball and stuff like that. It doesn’t stop our investigative reporting. It doesn’t compromise our integrity.”
Smith went on to reveal that he will be interviewing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in the coming weeks and said that he didn’t plan on approaching it any differently than he would have prior to ESPN’s deal with the league. He also insisted that “no deal between the league and ESPN is going to stop me from being me.”
Le Batard pushed back, stating that it was naïve to think that the NFL owning 10 percent of ESPN wouldn’t inevitability lead to conflicts regarding the network’s coverage. Smith didn’t necessarily disagree — he just seems confident that it will ultimately be the Worldwide Leader in Sports who gets the final word.
“They can try, but who the hell owns the other 90 percent?” Smith said. “Remember, you’re doing business with us. It’s not just us doing business with you. And the fact of the matter is the integrity that comes with ESPN and how we do what we do is not going to be compromised just because you got a piece of ownership. It’s something that we’re giving you in return as well.”
Smith’s stance sounds good in theory, although it’s also fair to wonder how much the average sports fan actually cares about ESPN’s journalistic integrity. As both Smith and Le Batard agreed on during their conversation, the network’s previous reliance on such credible reporting was largely rooted in a need for content that has since been replaced by its prolific sports rights portfolio.
Still, everybody involved has insisted that the deal won’t impact ESPN’s editorial independence, even as reminders of its NFL partnership have already become apparent. As for the notion that this isn’t the first time the network has been in partnership with a league, Smith isn’t wrong. But it would also be disingenuous to act like this deal is similar to any other that ESPN has been a part of in the past.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.