ESPN may not be ready to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming platform with its full lineup of sports yet, but it’s clearly evolving toward that goal. The next step in that evolution was announced this week, as ESPN renewed a broadcasting agreement with one of its most important combat sports partners.

• ESPN has agreed to a new, multiyear agreement with the Professional Fighters League.
• PFL events will be shown on linear ESPN channels and ESPN+, and will offer a new division featuring Jake Paul next year.
• The deal could be an indication that ESPN is already trying to anticipate having fewer NBA games in its next rights deal with that league.

ESPN and the Premier Fighting League, Together Again

Front Office Sports reports that ESPN has agreed to a multiyear extension of its broadcast deal with the Premier Fighting League. The deal will send PFL events to ESPN’s linear channels, as well as pay-per-view fights to ESPN+, which is a well-known host for UFC pay-per-views as well.

The agreement will encompass a new division of PFL events: the Super Fight Division, which will likely include such big names as former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou as well as YouTube star and boxer Jake Paul.

“We have had four successful seasons with ESPN with major audience growth — 30% year over year — and we will continue to grow,” PFL CEO Peter Murray told Front Office Sports. “ESPN, is a top-tier sports platform, both linear and obviously streaming. It really just illustrates that MMA is now mainstream. It’s a growth sport.”

Does PFL Deal Impact ESPN’s Pursuit of the NBA?

Under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be much reason to question whether the PFL-ESPN deal had any implications on the NBA period. But these are not normal circumstances. ESPN, while still a highly profitable segment of Disney’s business overall, has seen those profits dip 20% in the past year, and the launch of a new streaming platform with the full offering of ESPN content by 2025 will be expensive, to say the least.

Those financial hurdles are thrown into even starker relief when considering the other obligations ESPN and Disney face before 2025. At the top of that list is a potential renewal of ESPN’s NBA rights. Currently, ESPN shares national broadcasting duties for NBA games with TNT, and splits a tab of $2.6 billion per season for those rights. Reports indicate the league wants to triple that value in its next deal with broadcasters, and that ESPN may purchase a smaller package of games to help save money.

It’s essentially impossible that ESPN will simply walk away from the NBA, a league that draws a much younger demographic than sports like the NFL. But the NBA’s next deal could look incredibly similar to the broadcast contract that NASCAR agreed to last week, with its former broadcast partners still involved but a new, third party included to broadcast a smaller package of events. In NASCAR’s case, NBC and Fox will still carry the majority of Cup Series races, while 10 others will be split between TNT and Amazon’s Prime Video.

ESPN will likely see a small bundle of NBA games depart its airwaves for another outlet. That being the case, it will need more events like PFL fights to help fill out its daily schedule. The NCAA’s Patriot League also re-upped with ESPN this year, and while Formula 1 ratings have slipped in 2023, it’s expected that ESPN will be interested in renewing those rights once they expire in 2025.

The more deals of this nature ESPN makes before 2025, the fewer NBA games it may be preparing to host in the future. The channel is clearly preparing to have fewer NBA contests going forward, but how much smaller its NBA footprint is still depends on many factors, and having enough events like the Pro Fighters League to air instead will be a big part of that equation.

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