WORKING FOR ESPN MEANS YOU WORK FOR THE NFL — SO, TRANSFER TO LAW SCHOOL
The new relationship between the powerhouse empires, with the league owning 10 percent of the network, triggers a non-journalistic truth that football has swallowed the superiority of killer reporting
From brain damage to Colin Kaepernick, from a soft handling of Ray Rice to officiating calamities, from Roger Goodell to Roger Goodell — the NFL somehow overcame a rampage of issues. Just know ESPN never will cover that hellishness again. Not in my lifetime did I believe the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” would sell 10 percent of its soul and most of its credibility to a pro football league.
Back in college, we were taught how to cover the kingdom of sports, with no concern about angering anyone. Today, a kid is informed in fearful tones that he cannot piss off a commissioner and franchise owners unless he wants to lose his job by noon. This is the direct and crude antithesis of journalism, the deflating desperation of ESPN needing to control the NFL Network, the RedZone Channel for pay-TV operators and NFL Fantasy. The network and league are boisterous bedfellows, with a new direct-to-consumer service streaming bullish daily content to sell at $29.99 a month. ESPN decided it couldn’t exist anymore as merely ESPN.
Instead, it’s known as ESPN+NFL+billionaires-in-hiding, which would interest me if I’m Don Van Natta Jr. and I’m supposed to investigate raw stories for Bristol. Does he realize any critical subject about the league’s inner workings is off the board? Forget about all gambling topics. Forget about a problem involving an owner or two. Maybe he’ll receive hints about the derelict boss of the Players Association, but those stories only help the league. The public will have to find out about concussions, racial strife, Jim Irsay and player conduct in other media. At some point, the wife of Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger will jolt him as dean of USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Willow Bay is trying to teach the craft. He is crapping all over it.
“Nothing in this deal in any way changes ESPN’s approach when it comes to journalism,” Iger said Tuesday.
An “approach” can be stopped in any cooperative deal. OK. Why not assign an ESPN story about how many more Shane Tamuras lurk in America, ready to fatally shoot NFL employees in New York? Or, assign a story about the league’s relationship with problem bettors — and why six wagering commercials still air during regular-season games. Oh, that can’t happen when the NFL has a 10 percent ownership stake, which allows ESPN to license three more games a season. When in doubt, relinquish your newsgathering skills for additional gridiron.
Maybe President Trump, who likes reminding the NFL and ESPN that he has more power, will try to delay or block the agreement. “Growing concern,” wrote Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. Until then, be happy so many of us exist on Substack. I write columns, between five and six a week for free, and not once have I been told what to say by editors who are in bed only with themselves. Readers are served by our sites. Readers no longer are served by ESPN or CBS, which grants a stake to the NFL after a sale to Skydance.
They distribute goo. We distribute reality.
The question becomes how many people will buy DTC from ESPN. A purchaser receives everything from the network on an app, without need for cable cords. Iger and chairman Jimmy Pitaro decided the NFL was necessary to create urgency, along with deals that bring college football and the NBA to the forefront. The bosses are going very young, hiring 22-year-old Katie Feeney, who has 14 million followers on social media. She will appear on “College GameDay,” “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday Night Countdown.”
No wonder Tony Reali doesn’t have a job. And no wonder Pitaro replaced John Skipper, who tried to inform viewers with attacks on the NFL — best thing I can say about him.
“When I came back to Disney and assessed essentially the future of ESPN, it became clear that ESPN had to launch a bigger and more robust and digital or direct-to-consumer product — not only for the sake of ESPN’s business, but for the sports fan,” Iger told the Associated Press. “And obviously, when you start thinking about high-quality sports content, your eyes immediately head in the direction of the NFL because there’s really nothing more valuable and more popular than that.”
“By combining these NFL media assets with ESPN's reach and innovation, we're creating a premier destination for football fans,” Pitaro said. “Together, ESPN and the NFL are redefining how fans engage with the game — anytime, anywhere. This deal helps fuel ESPN's digital future, laying the foundation for an even more robust offering as we prepare to launch our new direct-to-consumer service.”
In two years, the NFL should attain its goal of $25 billion in annual revenue. The league chose to do business with ESPN after Pitaro greased poles. “The thing that’s exciting for us is that we have put a lot into the (NFL) Network. I think it’s been very effective for fans. We know it’s in good hands,” Goodell said. “(ESPN) is innovative, they recognize great production and know how to produce it. They will do a fantastic job of operating the (NFL) Network and taking it to another level.”
What I’d like to know: Which journalist is fired first? Stephen A. Smith? He always draws a line and protects Iger. One cannot be a journalist and cover the NFL for ESPN.
One must serve the master.
Kids, transfer to law school.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.