ESPN and FOX won't do this
Lot's of big time sports packages are coming up for renewal in the next few years.
Disney and Fox have their eyes on much bigger fish than the PAC12 or Big12 these days. One rumor is that they are going to use ABC for Monday Night Football when the new NFL TV contracts start bidding in the next year or so because they want to be in the Super Bowl rotation, and MNF being on ABC will guarantee that. Then, Disney is going to bid on the Thursday Night games to broadcast on ESPN. Fox probably won't be keen on giving up Thursday Night since they want more "watch now" programming on the Fox network instead of "record and watch later" show.
The next Disney rumor is that they are going to bid on the Sunday Ticket package to stream on ESPN+.
Also, MLB's contract with TBS is up in 2021 or 22, and with the postseason games and Sunday afternoon games over the last half of the season, ESPN and Fox will probably make a push for that,
PGA Tour's rights expire after this year, and the type of advertisers that it brings in will make it attractive for Disney and Fox to go after.
NHL's contract is up in 2021, and Disney is reported to be kind of frosty that they lost the NHL to NBC and might want to get the NHL back on board, even if it's just for a package of games. Fox had the NHL almost 25 years ago, so they may want to get involved.
The Triple Crown of horse racing is coming up for renewal, and you can bet that every network is going after that.
Then there is the English Premier League, ESPN would dearly love to have them back because the games all take place early in the morning and gives them live programming in that time slot. NBC is currently paying $1B over 6 years for the rights. Fox and ESPN would love to get that package because it would have very little overlap with college football, basketball, and MLB.
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In response to this post by Stech)
Posted: 01/22/2020 at 2:33PM