President Trump Can Kill The ESPN, NFL RedZone Deal – Here’s How originally appeared on The Spun.
While ESPN and the NFL may have agreed to a massive media deal that will give The Worldwide Leader in Sports a major stake in the league, there are still many hurdles to overcome before it becomes official.
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One of those hurdles is sitting in the Oval Office.
A deal of that size requires approval on just about every level of government before it can go into effect. That includes the federal government.
President Donald Trump may love football, but he has been at odds with the league many times in the past. As for ESPN, he downright despises the Disney-affiliated network and has taken their sister company ABC to court for defamation in the past.
As a result, he has the incentive to cause serious headaches for ESPN and the NFL if he so chooses. And that’s exactly what some people fear.
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In the report that Front Office Sports reporter Michael McCarthy made on the deal this week, McCarthy noted that a source was leery of President Donald Trump getting involved, noting that federal oversight and approval will be needed to get it done.
“What if Trump decides to stick his beak in?” an unnamed source told McCarthy. “This is a massive deal. It will require government oversight and approval. And we all know how Trump likes to poke the NFL from time to time.”
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 09: Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell (L) meets with U.S. President Donald Trump before Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The past few weeks alone have seen President Trump make thinly veiled threats against NFL franchises simply for not having a name that he likes. It’s pretty easy to imagine what he might be willing to do to one entity he despises and another that he’s battled in court through the years.
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As President he can do any number of things to influence the outcome of the federal approval and oversight of the deal. Even if he doesn’t say a word on the issue, he can still make things very difficult.
Simply put, if Trump has a desire to hurt the NFL and ESPN, he can do it pretty easily.
Given his past history of dealing with his rivals and enemies, it seems like more of a foregone conclusion already.
US President Donald Trump gestures during the award ceremony for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Champions, following the final football match between England’s Chelsea and France’s Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 13, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) ANGELA WEISS/Getty Images
A problem… or a solution?
As much as fans might not like to see President Trump getting involved in the NFL and ESPN again, many might see it as the solution to a future problem.
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ESPN is set to acquire the much-beloved NFL RedZone package as part of the deal. When the deal was first announced, fans raged against the idea, declaring that ESPN can only make the commercial-free NFL experience worse.
Amid news that Trump could tank the deal, many are already praying that he does exactly that:
“Decline it! ESPN and its parent company Disney stinks and the NFL is clearly the best sports product in the country. You don’t bring a topic that divides the country-politics- into a space that unites us which is sports and our love for our sports teams. Outside of the moral perspective of this potential deal, from an ethics standpoint you cannot allow one company to gain a monopoly on sports coverage for American Sports. That deal should go to another sports coverage company like NBC, CBS, or Fox,” one user on X remarked.
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“Hopefully he denies it,” wrote another.
“Decline it!!!” a third wrote.
Will Trump find a way to tank the deal?
Related: An NFL QB Was Accidentally Mentioned During Trump’s Impeachment Trial
President Trump Can Kill The ESPN, NFL RedZone Deal – Here’s How first appeared on The Spun on Aug 2, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 2, 2025, where it first appeared.