ESPN Jumps Into Bed With the NFL. What About Everyone Else?

The Town with Matthew Belloni

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.3 • 847 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

LIVE SHOW in Los Angeles on August 27. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here for tickets!⁠ Matt is joined by Huddle Up’s Joe Pompliano to break down why the NFL is acquiring a 10 percent stake in ESPN in exchange for NFL Network and other media assets. They discuss the complicated details of this deal and what's in it for both sides, including how this will affect ESPN's NFL offerings and its upcoming stand-alone streaming service (02:42). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘Freakier Friday’ and ‘Weapons’ (27:06). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email us your thoughts! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Joe Pompliano Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Danny Kelly and it's officially fantasy football season, which means the ringer fantasy football show is back with the latest news from around the NFL and everything you need to get ready for the fantasy football season.
0:11.0	So join us at the ringer fantasy football show on Spotify or on our new YouTube channel.
0:17.0	It's so funny because when you look at the guys, that's never a topic of conversation. Yeah. What you look like? Yeah. Did you watch the football last night? It's never about, I'll watch your skincare routine. Whereas women walk into a room and because we've been taught to be pitted against each other. Yeah. But sometimes there's, oh my God, you know, I can't. A bit of a barrier.
0:37.9	Yeah, yeah.
0:38.5	And it shouldn't be there.
0:39.6	We should be trying to change that stereotype, believing that there is space for everybody.
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1:16.1	It is Wednesday, August 6th.
1:18.7	Disney released its earnings today, and it's a familiar story.
1:22.1	Gains in parks, send the streaming services, declines in linear TV.
1:26.2	But the big news for Disney has been trickling out
1:28.9	for a couple weeks now. ESPN is about to become a full-fledged streaming service. None of this ESPN
1:35.1	plus limited offering nonsense. Starting August 21st, 30 bucks a month gets you all of ESPN's
1:41.2	premium sports on its linear channels. That includes NFL, NBA, MLB, even
1:46.4	cornhole on the Ocho. Plus, and here's the big one, they announced a complicated new deal with
	...

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