ESPN working on deal to acquire NFL Media?

ESPN and the NFL are in discussions to have the media juggernaut acquire NFL Media and its entire suite. The talks have persisted for multiple months, but over the last few weeks they have progressed with negotiations resuming in February.

"There is optimism on both sides. Nothing is completed as of yet," said Andrew Marchand of The Athletic during his "Sports Media Podcast" (via Brandon Contes). "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," Marchand continued. "'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."

The NFL Media suite has, obviously, regressed like many media as everything goes digital. Of course, there are still shows like "NFL RedZone" that has solid ratings, but the league could be better suited offloading the rights. This would also reimagine the department as ESPN will revamp the content being produced.

Although nothing is completed yet, it seems like an advantageous deal for both sides. Reports suggest that the deal could be finalized for as much as $2 billion, which would be a high price. However, as Mike Florio points out it would be "strategic" for ESPN to overpay because it would "cement the company’s status as a broadcast partner beyond 2029, when all deals will be up for bid — and when one of the existing networks that televise NFL games could find itself without a chair."

Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.