Walt Disney Co. should announce that the NFL is participating in shares in its Sports Media ESPN property, according to people familiar with the plan.
Disney could reveal the agreement during its results on Wednesday. NFL and ESPN representatives refused to comment on Friday.
In exchange for participation, ESPN should at least to use the properties of the cables of the NFL, in particular the NFL network and the red zone, the popular chain which permanently implements fans on the list of Sunday competitions. The NFL network also has the rights to several regular season games at the end of the season.
The NFL also has the production unit of the League, NFL Films, and NFL +, the streaming service which allows subscribers to watch games and other related content on mobile devices.
ESPN has the diffusion rights on “Monday Night Football” and two Super Bowl games in the current NFL contract which takes place until 2033, but should be reopened in 2029. The imminent agreement with Disney means that the other partners of the NFL – FOX, NBC, CBS, Youtube and Amazon – will be subject to an entity that media rights.
Discussions between NFL and Disney have been underway for more than 18 months, concerns have been strengthened for the viability of ESPN when consumers continue to bypass or cancel subscriptions on paid television.
ESPN has long been the most expensive part of the Bundle Pay TV, currently reaching nearly $ 9 per subscriber. It is now in around 73 million houses, compared to 98.5 million in 2013.
ESPN adapts to the landscape in streaming, launching its first direct direct to consumer product which will allow consumers to access all its channels without TV subscription. The service will cost $ 29.99 per month.
The television notes for ESPN have improved and that the sales of ads have remained solid, because advertisers appreciate the audiences who look at the programming live.
