ESPN, NFL need Trump administration to approve massive media deal
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
ESPN, NFL need Trump administration to approve massive media deal
The agreement between the NFL and ESPN that gives ESPN control of multiple NFL Media assets and the NFL up to 10 percent of ESPN will require regulatory approval. President Trump could have something to say about whether approval happens. Trump has battled in the past with the NFL, and with ESPN’s parent company, Disney.
The agreement between the NFL and ESPN that gives ESPN control of multiple NFL Media assets and the NFL up to 10 percent of ESPN will require regulatory approval. Federal regulatory approval.
Which means that President Trump could have something to say about whether approval happens.
“What if Trump decides to stick his beak in?” an unnamed source told Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com. “This is a massive deal. It will require government oversight and approval. And we all know how Trump likes to poke the NFL from time to time.”
Indeed he does. Recently, he demanded that the Commanders change their name back to what it was in 2020. Later that same day, he suggested that he would hinge a final Commanders stadium deal on a name change.
Trump has battled in the past with the NFL, and with ESPN’s parent company, Disney. Trump recently sued ESPN sister company ABC for defamation, settling the case for $15 million.
And it was the $16 million settlement of a case against 60 Minutes that seemed to be the trigger for final regulatory approval of a merger between Paramount, the parent company of CBS, and Skydance.
Here’s the reality. To the extent that the NFL and ESPN were already walking on eggshells in order to avoid an executive order, they’ll be treading even more lightly now.