Last week's announcement that ESPN arrived at a huge deal to buy RedZone, NFL Network and other holdings of the league has industry analysts looking at President Donald Trump emerging as a linchpin for the purchase.
ESPN is a Disney holding, and Trump and some of his allies have taken issue with the company and some of its media divisions, including ABC, for coverage issues, and Disney's approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Trump won a $15 million settlement from ABC News last December. The network settled over inaccurate broadcast comments that were made about Trump by anchor George Stephanopoulos. Trump vowed to go after any other media outlet that did the same.
Given Trump's interest in any large corporate financial actions, this one may be particularly enticing for him to use some leverage to advance the goals of his administration.
The Hill reported that since the deal will need approval from at least two federal government departments, that could be the opening Trump could take to get involved.
Media consultant Dan Rayburn told The Hill, "Trump clearly is the wild card in this whole thing," he said. "We already know how he likes to throw his weight around, and he's had some problems with Disney in the past. So, there's only so much they and the NFL can control here."
Some analysts believe the reason the NFL and Disney did not predict a timeline to close the deal was due to the uncertainty of Trump getting involved to try to elicit some policies that would be in line with his conservative leadership approach.
Conservative sports media figure Clay Travis posted about the deal, saying, "Given ABC News's consistent bias against President Trump why should his administration allow this Disney media purchase to occur?" He suggested scrutiny. "What's more, ESPN is a far left wing political organization. Far more so than any news network. Trump's FCC should zealously review any merger request."
So far, Trump has not publicly weighed in on the proposed ESPN-NFL deal.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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