Former ESPN president and Meadowlark Media co-founder John Skipper has reservations about the network he used to oversee selling an equity stake to the NFL.
Skipper and David Samson joined Pablo Torre for another episode of Sporting Class, and the topic of ESPN considering one of the major sports leagues as a potential partner came up right off the top.
John Skipper said the latest reports about the NFL and ESPN engaging in some kind of advanced talks shouldn’t be seen as a sign that the two sides are going to strike a deal.
“It’s a long way from a deal. I’m quite skeptical that a deal will get done here,” he said. “Though it doesn’t surprise me, because I think we also know that the NFL would like to shed some of their media assets.”
Reports have indicated the league is looking to sell off NFL Media, of which includes NFL Network and NFL.com. Skipper said the journalism aspect of a potential deal between the two entities would pose some credibility challenges.
“I think it ignores an astonishing conflict on both sides of the deal,” Skipper said. “I don’t understand, though I know what the press release would say, I don’t know in practical terms how you have reporters reporting the news on your minority shareholder without some dramatic tension and conflict. On the other side, I find that the NFL would also have a conflict.”
“They want to go have rights negotiations with all interested parties,” he continued. “But don’t worry, we will not be giving an advantage to our other company we own ‘X’ percent in.”
David Samson thought that even as he agreed with Skipper in that there would be a conflict at the journalistic level, there was a path to making the deal work. Still, the image of ESPN as a sports news institution would likely take a major hit in Skipper’s eyes.
“It would strain it, and it might break it to a point where it is not credible,” he said.
John Skipper did reiterate that even though these talks have taken place, nothing is set in stone just yet.
“I’m not suggesting that it doesn’t have some level of credibility,” he said of recent reporting. “I’m just suggesting it’s a long way from a deal. All this may mean is that some folks from ESPN walked into an office on Park Avenue and had some discussions. That’s maybe all it means.”
“I don’t think it ultimately it ends up happening because there’s too many conflicts at work here,” Skipper added.
