NFL Media's Hans Schroeder, ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus Discuss the Future of NFL on ESPN Recently announced rights deals cover a mix of broadcast, cable, digital, and social By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, March 19, 2021 - 11:56 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
If anyone was curious about the future of sports-content delivery, yesterday's string of NFL distribution deals made it clear that, for at least the next 10 years, TV's largest traditional players expect over-the-air broadcast, cable TV, streaming, OTT, and social-media services to be a potent mix ensuring that all sports fans, regardless of favorite platform, are served.
ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro is excited about the multi-platform possibilities the ESPN and ABC can offer around the Super Bowl in 2026.
While digital is growing, the traditional TV ecosystem is still incredibly rich, incredibly deep, incredibly broad, said Hans Schroeder, EVP/COO, NFL Media. We reach over 200 million people a year through television. We're getting 40 telecasts a year with over 20 million people watching. And what I think partners like ESPN and Disney do so well is continue that wide reach, which has always been really important to us, but look for ways to add to and augment that.
Schroeder made the comment during a conference call with Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and sports content, and Burke Magnus, EVP, programming and original content, ESPN. During the call, they discussed the deal, the mix of digital and broadcast, the possibility of a Super Bowl MegaCast, and more.
First, Super Bowls are back, said Pitaro. We've also secured direct-to-consumer rights and content, including exclusive national games for ESPN+. We have 35% more regular-season games, including end-of-season games with significant playoff implications, plus additional playoff matchups, a better schedule, increased flexibility, and, of course, vast highlight rights.
Said Magnus. This is bringing the full array of [ESPN parent] The Walt Disney Company's distribution platforms to bear, from over-the-air television to multichannel subscription to cable television to digital and social and now direct-to-consumer. Every single one of them is important in their own way, and that's the way we're looking at deals at this moment in time. You saw it last week with our NHL deal.
The NFL has always been forthright that the reach of over-the-air broadcast has been a key driver of its ability to stay closely aligned with NFL fans of all ages, and Schroeder said that having ABC back in the partnership for a number of exclusive games, playoffs, and the Super Bowl is just the tip of the iceberg.
At the heart of it, too, is an expansion on digital, he added. I'm not sure there's anybody in the media landscape in this country today that is growing, innovating, and evolving their approach and their business in the way that Disney is.
Schroeder noted that the NFL is excited about the possibility of a Super Bowl MegaCast similar to the one ESPN did during Wild Card weekend this past season (and for the College Football Championship Game).
Over the last decade, he pointed out, our concentrated focus [has been] on continuing to grow availability and grow the different experiences with how fans can engage with NFL live games. That's both the game itself and the content around the live game.
The NFL's Hans Schroeder says the mix of traditional delivery and digital is key to the league's media strategy.
The NFL fan base, Schroeder noted, is big enough that many fans will engage in new experiences, not only on different screens but with different forms of delivery. We couldn't be more excited about what they're going to do with the Super Bowl when they get it in a few years.
Pitaro said that it is too early to talk about specifics for a Super Bowl that is five years away but the idea of doing an alternative broadcast is something that ESPN will want to talk to the league about.
Many in the traditional broadcast and cable industry breathed a collective sigh of relieve yesterday. Only two years ago, rumors abounded that new-media companies would sweep in and make a big play for the NFL rights (rumors that most of those companies denied).
From the NFL perspective, the media landscape is not an either/or situation. We look at it very much as, how do we add distribution in a way that's complementary, that is reaching fans through new screens and new opportunities and is growing the way and opportunities they have to engage with our game, Schroeder explained. You'll still see ESPN and now ABC be very much the core. You'll see authenticated access and digital access that you might get through pay TV to those products. It will still be a core. Disney and ESPN in particular have led the way on that.
He also envisions new forms of digital distribution and mobile distribution and partnerships as another additive way to engage a fan on the best screen available and whatever screen they have in front of them. We don't think about its being either/or. We think about how we pull these different platforms and models together.
One thing not mentioned in the string of deals was the role the NFL Network will play, and Schroeder said the network will continue to be a key part of the league's overall media strategy and will definitely have games.
We have seven games today, and that will continue, he said. They'll continue to offer the Red Zone, and our team will continue to, in my humble opinion, do maybe the best job of bringing the NFL 24/7. I think you'll see NFL Media continue to be a really important part of everything we do, and we're continuing to make sure there is an opportunity to grow and build our own assets.
Pitaro added that, al
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
NFL Media's Hans Schroeder, ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus Discuss the Future of NFL on ESPN Recently announced rights deals cover a mix of broadcast, cable, digital, and social By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
