ESPN Reaches Multi-year Extension To Air NFL Draft Along With
ESPN will continue to broadcast the NFL Draft along with getting brand-new digital rights for its upcoming direct-to-consumer service.
The 2 contracts were revealed Wednesday early morning, two hours before the Walt Disney Company revealed its third-quarter incomes.
It also came after the NFL and ESPN announced a nonbinding arrangement Tuesday night in which ESPN will acquire the NFL Network and other league media properties while the NFL gets a 10% equity stake in ESPN.
ESPN has aired the NFL Draft since 1980, when the league's annual choice meeting happened at the New york city Sheraton Hotel. Back then, the draft was two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) and took 12 rounds.
Next year's draft will remain in Pittsburgh and is expected to draw in enormous crowds over the three days. The preliminary has had its own night given that 2010.
ESPN and ABC will each have their own telecasts of the first three rounds on Thursday and Friday. ABC will simulcast ESPN's coverage of the last four rounds on Saturday.
FILE - ESPN Monday Night Football TV camera is seen during the 2nd half of an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021, in . (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, File)
Besides ESPN's direct-to-consumer service, Disney+ and Hulu will also stream the ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes ´ feeds under the multi-year agreement. The draft will also continue to be aired on NFL Network.
"We ´ ve been discussing the draft given that last year and how we continue to build on that. ESPN has actually been a partner because from the first day, bringing, the fans closer to that occasion and building that event into one of the most popular occasions on the sporting calendar, which is extraordinary if you believe back a couple of decades," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told The Associated Press. "We understand that relationship works, and we ´ re happy that ESPN is going to continue to be a partner."
ESPN will likewise produce a daily program leading up to the NFL Draft that will begin the day after the Super Bowl. That program will air most days on ESPN2, as well as being offered on the direct-to-consumer service.
ESPN has likewise reached a licensing agreement that permits for additional NFL content and interactive functions, consisting of statistics, fantasy football team efficiency and legalized sports wagering info and tracking. It likewise permits ESPN to offer and bundle NFL+ Premium, the league's direct-to-consumer product that consists of out-of-market preseason games and replays of complete games.
There will also be expanded emphasize rights for the ESPN direct-to-consumer service and Disney+.
"This will make the fan experience much stronger. The goal for ESPN when they launch the services is to develop something that doesn ´ t exist on direct (television) since the innovation enables it," Disney CEO Bob Iger said to AP. "We ´ ve talked about personalization and personalized SportsCenter and the ability to essentially develop data and to connect wagering to some of the programming."