When it comes to securing governmental approval of their proposed partial merger, the NFL and ESPN have more than one branch to worry about.
Ryan Glasspiegel of FrontOfficeSports.com reports that multiple members of Congress have sent a letter to the NFL, Disney, and ESPN expressing “serious concerns” over ESPN’s plan to give equity in the company to the league.
In the letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representatives Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) explain that the NFL’s partial ownership of ESPN could create “an incentive to grant ESPN anticompetitive preferential treatment over other distribution partners” and that it “would likely harm ESPN’s competitors, who could find it challenging to compete, ultimately resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for viewers if disadvantaged competitors subsequently fail.”
The letter also contends (accurately) that the proposed arrangement creates a “blueprint for future consolidation and consumer harm,” and that it could impact ESPN’s news coverage of the NFL.
The letter closes with a dozen specific questions. They include these, regarding RedZone: “Why did the NFL choose to include commercials in RedZone for the coming season?” and “Did NFL officials discuss this matter at any time with ESPN officials?” The questions also address the steps that ESPN will take to “prevent conflicts of interest and preserve the journalistic independence of its reporters and commentators.”
Already, concerns have swirled that the administration will become a potential roadblock to approval. That issue became more pronounced this week, with Disney putting Jimmy Kimmel back on the air less than a week after his show was pulled — and with the man at the top of the administration clearly not happy about Disney’s decision.
The whole thing arguably seems to be more trouble than it’s worth. Then again, if it guarantees ESPN and ABC a slice of the NFL broadcasting pie indefinitely, maybe Disney will choose to deal with the annoyance and uncertainty of securing final approval for an unprecedented partnership that could indeed be replicated between the NFL and other networks.
