The NFL does not believe that its equity stake in Paramount Global or its upcoming stake in ESPN will impact its distribution or editorial decisions. Heads of the league addressed this lingering question during a press conference with reporters on Tuesday.
“The equity won’t affect how we think about the distribution and how we deploy our rights in the future,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, on Tuesday. “We have had equity in some of our media partnerships over the years, and I think we know how to balance that at an arm’s length way and both be great partners on the equity side but also think about where and how we need to evolve our business, if appropriate.”
Schroeder also addressed the editorial concerns around the NFL’s partnership with ESPN. “The short sweet answer to that is they’ll be responsible for creating the content that runs on the assets that they’re buying. That’s something that we’re comfortable with and aware of,” Schroeder said.
August was a massive month for the league when it came to its relationship with its media partners. On Aug. 5, the NFL and Disney announced that the league was trading the NFL Network, rights to RedZone and other media assets to ESPN in exchange for a 10% equity stake in the sports company. The non-binding agreement is currently being negotiated.
The league’s stake in Paramount is less than 10%, but it’s still notable. Because Skydance Sports is a joint venture between the league and Skydance, when Skydance closed its $8 billion deal for Paramount Global, the NFL was given a stake in the company.
The 2025 NFL season kicks off on Friday with the Kansas City Chiefs playing against the Los Angeles Chargers.
