The NFL Network faces extreme uncertainty this offseason, but the man who is arguably the face of the network is not going anywhere. National insider Ian Rapoport recently signed a new deal to remain at NFL Network and NFL.com, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
The news comes after NFL Network recently put its signature show Good Morning Football on hiatus and laid off key personalities including Melissa Stark and Andrew Siciliano. The league’s media enterprise may be in flux, but ahead of a signature event in the NFL Draft, it will keep its signature reporter and most recognizable face in Rapoport.
“We’re excited for Ian to continue to be a part of the NFL Network news-breaking team, providing fans the most trusted source of NFL news across the industry,” NFL VP of Communications Alex Riethmiller told The Athletic.
In addition to changes at Good Morning Football and layoffs in the league’s media arm, the NFL is facing potentially big changes should it move forward in purchasing a stake in ESPN. Such a deal would move NFL Network and its digital assets under the Walt Disney Co. umbrella, Marchand reported.
That would create a dynamic in which Rapoport effectively becomes teammates with his longtime rival in the NFL news-breaking game, Adam Schefter. As the sports media business shrinks and fewer media companies offer the scale that highly paid insiders need to justify their growing salaries, Rapoport had few places to go.
We have seen insiders like Shams Charania, Dianna Russini, Ken Rosenthal and Chris Haynes strike flexible deals that allow them to work for a broadcast network and digital platform simultaneously, while ESPN gobbles up many of the top dogs on each sport.
For now, Rapoport stays at home at NFL Network where he can contribute to its television broadcasts and digital portfolio directly for football diehards.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.