ESPN announced the terms of its new deal with the NFL on Thursday. As the company had hoped, ABC becomes part of the Super Bowl rotation and ESPN hangs on to Monday Night Football. ESPN will also continue televising the NFL draft and the Pro Bowl,and NFL PrimeTime will return to ESPN+ on Sunday nights, streaming throughout the week.
It had been previously reported that ESPN+ would be the new exclusive home for NFL Sunday Ticket. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro said that the network has been engaged in discussions with the NFL about the digital platform taking over the package, but no deal has been agreed to yet.
“When ESPN and the NFL work best together, the results are transformational for sports fans and the industry,” ESPN and sports content chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “Some of the most remarkable collaborative examples have occurred in the past 12 months and have demonstrated the extraordinary range of The Walt Disney Company that is fundamental to this agreement. There are so many exciting new components, including Super Bowls and added playoff games, new end-of-season games with playoff implications, exclusive streaming games on ESPN+, scheduling flexibility and enhancements, and much more. It’s a wide-ranging agreement unlike any we’ve reached with the NFL, and we couldn’t be more energized about what the future holds.”
Pitaro has plenty of reasons to be happy with the new deal. ABC gets to carry Super Bowls LXI & LXV, ESPN increases its playoff inventory starting with the 2023 postseason, and a new and improved flex schedule should help Monday Night Football.
While the public still waits to hear about the future of Sunday Ticket, there are other ESPN+ details included in the new deal. For instance, the OTT service will get one exclusive game every season beginning in 2022.
