The potential deal between ESPN and NFL Media continues to heat up.
According to a report by Austin Karp and Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, the NFL may hold a special league meeting next month to discuss a deal.
Is the Disney-NFL Media deal going to happen before the season?
Two NFL sources tell my @SBJ colleague Ben Fischer that they’ve received an informal heads up that there may be a special league meeting in August on the topic pic.twitter.com/Rfgl7mcm5y
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) July 17, 2025
Last month, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported that negotiations between the two sides were still progressing, with ESPN wanting to close the deal before it launches its forthcoming direct-to-consumer product this fall. An August meeting would seem to put that timeline in reach, though it’d be tight if the two sides wanted to get a deal done prior to the start of football season. Of course, nobody knows just how far along negotiations are at this point.
Talks between ESPN and NFL Media have been ongoing for well over a year now, with the league’s media arm being valued at around $2 billion according to reports. NFL Media owns and operates the popular NFL RedZone program, NFL Network and its affiliated shows, and also holds rights to a handful of regular season NFL games each year.
A purchase by ESPN would mark a major move forward for the network and its direct-to-consumer product as the NFL continues to dominate sports media’s coverage.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.