Mike Florio ,
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The deal is done. Even if it still isn’t done.
On Wednesday, the NFL announced that owners have voted to approve the massive media deal with Disney, which will give ESPN control of assets like NFL Network — and which will give the NFL a 10-percent equity stake in ESPN.
The transaction remains subject to governmental review and approval. Or disapproval.
“There’s a number of steps in a transaction like this and a number of those steps we don’t control ,“ NFL executive V.P. of media distribution Hans Schroeder said, via Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal . ”So we’re going to do all that we can. We’re going to cooperate, we’re going to partner, and in the meantime, we’re going to continue to run our business and work with all our partners as we always would. But certainly when it does close, I think we’re really excited.”
There previously was a sense that the owners hadn’t voted to approve the deal in order to avoid create the impression that they were being presumptuous. If true, it illustrates the political minefield through which both the league and Disney will be tiptoeing.
Then again, there’s not much tiptoeing going on. Disney’s quick reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel and the league’s decision to make Bad Bunny the Super Bowl LX halftime performer will not ingratiate the parties to the people, or person, who will be giving a thumb’s up, or a thumb’s down, to the deal.
Beyond the administration, multiple members of Congress have “ serious concerns ” about the NFL-ESPN agreement.
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