ESPN and NFL restart acquisition talks; watch March Madness and ‘Severance’ finale
ESPN and NFL restart acquisition talks; watch March Madness and ‘Severance’ finale
If a deal finally goes through, ESPN would acquire NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and more.
In this streaming week’s news, the hottest drama in the NFL isn’t going on on the field but behind the scenes as the league (once again) attempts to find a home at ESPN for its NFL Media properties, including NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and more.
Plus, it’s quitting time for “Severance” Season 2 and tip-off time for March Madness— check our full weekend watch recommendations and schedules!
This week’s biggest streaming news:
ESPN and NFL restart talks on NFL Network, RedZone, more
The will-they, won’t-they between ESPN and the NFL Media has officially survived another year. After last year’s stalled negotiations and a month of rumors, the NFL and ESPN’s parent company Disney are once again in talks for a potential deal that would bring NFL’s cable channels and studio shows under the control of ESPN.
Sports insider Andrew Marchand revealed the details during his “Marchand Sports Media” podcast this week, including the deal’s potential valuation of $2 billion. If Disney foots the bill, ESPN would acquire “Good Morning Football,” NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and the NFL Film archives, among others, which could potentially even make NFL RedZone an exclusive ESPN offering.
ESPN has long been the most likely buyer of NFL Network and NFL RedZone, but no deal has come to fruition. At the beginning of 2024, the league was reportedly exploring an equity stake in ESPN that would transfer control of the NFL cable channels to ESPN. (The two are once again exploring an ownership stake in the new deal, according to Marchand.) The deal was reportedly “all but signed” in May of last year; however, talks stalled shortly thereafter.
We started to hear about renewed talks in February as ESPN had reportedly reentered the chat, spurred by its new Flagship streaming service launching this fall. The league has long been waiting for Disney and ESPN to buy, and now it seems ESPN has extra incentive to get a deal done to have NFL Media content available on the new streamer.
Catch up on our recent stories related to the NFL-ESPN negotiations:
- ESPN might pay up to $2 billion for NFL Network, RedZone, more
- Is NFL RedZone becoming an ESPN exclusive?
- ESPN restarts negotiations to buy NFL Network, RedZone
- ESPN deal to acquire NFL Network is reportedly ‘all but signed’
- As NFL Network cuts staff, moves ‘Good Morning Football’ to LA, is the NFL preparing to invest in ESPN?
- Disney, NFL working on major deal to sell equity stake of ESPN to league
ESPN Select
ESPN Select is a streaming service that replaced ESPN+ and provides access to live NHL, MLB, and MLS games, PGA Tour Golf, international sports events, ESPN original programming, and a complete archive of “30 for 30.” Find out our review of the service and how to start streaming ESPN Select.
What to stream this weekend: Clock out of ‘Severance’ Season 2
So many unanswered questions remain for “Severance” Season 2, but it’s quittin’ time. The hit Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller has released the finale of its long-awaited second season, with the 10th episode of Season 2, “Cold Harbor,” available exclusively on the streamer as of Thursday, March 20 at 9 p.m. ET.
Executive produced and directed by Ben Stiller and created by Dan Erickson, “Severance” follows the employees and executives of Lumon Industries, a revolutionary company doing mysterious and important work that has perfected a surgical technique that allows those who receive it to completely compartmentalize their work and home lives… but with increasingly dire consequences as the team members of Lumon’s Macrodata Refinement department compromise their work-life balance. Adam Scott leads the cast with Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette, and more.
Outie with the old, innie with the new, though: Apple TV+ officially renewed “Severance” for Season 3 on Friday morning, unsurprising after the series overtook “Ted Lasso” as the streamer’s most-watched series. Now it’s just a matter of “when” for Season 3, but speaking to Jason and Travis Kelce on their “New Heights” podcast, Stiller is committed to making the gap between 2 and 3 much shorter than Seasons 1 and 2.
Still, if you’re already wanting to get back to work, we have more mysteries, sci-fi thrillers, and corporate dystopias to keep you busy in the meantime!
Severance
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
What to stream this weekend: March Madness is here
With Spring fever comes March Madness! The Big Dance has officially begun with Thursday’s first full day of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in the books. Now, the action continues for both men’s and women’s divisions this weekend for the rest of its first- and second-round action.
The men started the tourney on CBS with Thursday’s 12:15 p.m. ET matchup against (8) Louisville and (9) Creighton on CBS with Creighton’s Bluejays taking the win. No. 1 overall seed Auburn bested (16) Alabama State 83–63, so they’ll face off against Creighton in Saturday night’s second-round game. First-round action continues through Friday night’s 10:10 p.m. ET matchup against (5) Oregon and (12) Liberty on truTV.
Check out the full schedule for 2025 Men’s NCAA Tournament
Meanwhile, the NCAA women’s basketball tournament tips off today, March 21, at 11:30 a.m. ET, with the first 16 matchups in the first-round action, beginning with (11) Iowa State vs. (6) Michigan on ESPN2. This year, USC’s defending champion Gamecocks look for the repeat, but it’s the UCLA Bruins in the top overall seed.
Games will continue all day until UCLA hosts (16) Southern at 10 p.m. on ESPN, followed by Saturday’s day 2 matchups starting with (6) Iowa vs (11) Murray State (noon on ESPN) and second-round action beginning Sunday.
Check out the full schedule for 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament
A subscription to Sling will get you access to most of the action, at least games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, TBS, TNT, and truTV, but for any of the men’s tournament games that will air on CBS, you’ll need a little bit more to catch all the coverage. Get our full recommendations for the men’s tournament and the women’s tournament!
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.