{"id":763899,"date":"2026-02-20T05:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763899\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T05:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:51:19","slug":"ian-rapoport-unsure-of-future-in-espn-nfl-network-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763899\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Rapoport unsure of future in ESPN-NFL Network marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With NFL Network and ESPN joining forces, Ian Rapoport\u2019s future is up in the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7055142\/2026\/02\/19\/ian-rapoport-espn-nfl-adam-schefter\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">interview with The Athletic\u2019s Andrew Marchand<\/a>, Rapoport said he wasn\u2019t sure what\u2019s next for him professionally with his contract expiring in May and another NFL insider, Adam Schefter, already in place at ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust so we are clear, I don\u2019t know what is coming,\u201d Rapoport said. \u201cNo one has told me, \u2018It\u2019s going to be like this. It\u2019s going to be like that.\u2019 There are a lot of things I don\u2019t know. A lot of people don\u2019t know, but I\u2019m excited because ESPN is very good at what it does. From my understanding, it is going to be more football, more coverage, investing in NFL Network and making it as best as it could possibly be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38544508\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260204_kdl_al2_180.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue plaid jacket smiles at a microphone with an NFL Network logo.\" class=\"wp-image-38544508\"  \/>Ian Rapoport on the NFL Network set at the Super Bowl LX media center at the Moscone Center. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Rapoport, who has competed with Schefter on the national beat since 2012, having previously covered the Patriots, said he would welcome the opportunity to work with his fellow newsbreaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we were to work together, I think that would be awesome,\u201d Rapoport said. \u201cI have no idea if it is going to happen. But it would be like \u2018The Avengers.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rapoport\u2019s uncertain future is one of many ripple effects to the roughly $3 billion NFL-ESPN merger, which <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/01\/sports\/nfl-espn-megadeal-closes-after-receiving-governmental-approval\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">received governmental approval earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The NFL will take a 10 percent stake in ESPN, with NFL Network moving under ESPN\u2019s umbrella.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN is also acquiring linear rights to the RedZone channel and will merge the NFL.com fantasy football project with ESPN.com.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38544525\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2202142567.jpg\" alt=\"ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on set ahead of Super Bowl LIX on February 07, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.\" class=\"wp-image-38544525\"  \/>ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on set ahead of Super Bowl LIX on February 07, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe NFL and ESPN are pleased to announce the official closing of the sale of NFL Network and other NFL Media assets to ESPN,\u201d the NFL and ESPN said in a joint statement. \u201cWith the closing, we will begin integrating NFL employees into ESPN in the months ahead. As we look to the future, NFL fans can look forward to expanded NFL programming, greater access to NFL Network, innovative fantasy experiences and unparalleled coverage of America\u2019s most popular sport.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With NFL Network and ESPN joining forces, Ian Rapoport\u2019s future is up in the air.\u00a0 In an interview&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4191,12,7,6,126,9,10,203],"class_list":{"0":"post-763899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-adam-schefter","9":"tag-espn","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-network","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-sports-entertainment","15":"tag-sports-media"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116101400999767009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}