Earlier this year, a deal between the NFL and ESPN regarding the league’s NFL media conglomerate seemed to be inevitable. Then, it didn’t happen.
Now, other entities are reportedly getting in on the act.
According to Bloomberg.com, via Sports Business Daily, the league is “in talks” with Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners tha “could result in some of the league’s media assets changing hands.”
The discussions could culminate in a sale of NFL Media and NFL Network or an acquisition by Paramount of the NFL’s interest in Skydance.
The discussions come at a time when the NFL has the ability to put the current CBS broadcast deal out to bid, given the looming change in control regarding CBS, as Skydance buys CBS parent company Paramount.
Basically, the Skydance-Paramount deal has created an occasion to talk. And the NFL and Skydance (along with RedBird, a Skydance investor) apparently are talking about a lot of things.
While the NFL seemingly has stripped NFL Media and NFL Network down to a low-cost, employee-unfriendly skeleton crew, the league by all appearances continues to overvalue the asset. It always has. Until that changes, good luck finding a buyer.
