There are many layers to the ESPN-NFL equity deal that will be unpacked in the coming years, but one that has paid immediate dividends is the return of Rich Eisen into the wider ESPN family once again.
Eisen originally left ESPN in 2003 to become the face of the newly-launched NFL Network and he has been there ever since as their lead studio host and sometimes play-by-play man. But with ESPN and NFL Network now under the same umbrella thanks to the massive equity deal that will see Bristol own and operate NFL Network and other assets in exchange for a 10% stake in ESPN, Eisen has been welcomed back to his former home.
We’ve already seen Rich Eisen host an episode of SportsCenter for the first time since he shared the set in his iconic pairing with Stuart Scott and surely there will be more to come next football season.
And in an interview with Front Office Sports, Eisen credited ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro for the ability to come home – not just for repairing the network’s relationship with the NFL, but for the approach to talent that gives them unprecedented freedom to be able to do the kinds of shows that they want.
I think a lot of that has to do with the leadership of Jimmy Pitaro, and what relationship resets he thought were necessary. I’ve never spoken to him about it, but by all manners of observation something did need to be reset.
Let’s just put it this way: I’m feeling a heck of a lot more excited about the future because of my re-entry into ESPN, and seeing how differently run it is, from a strategy point of view, to attitude toward talent. I would have been a heck of a lot more concerned if this happened eight years ago—that’s for sure—about what ESPN wanted to do with it. I have no qualms saying that based on my experience with my daily show that they clearly value content. They clearly love growing it, they love employing it, they love seeing what it is and keeping it intact to what made it great, and saying, “Go do that.”
It’s a fascinating perspective to hear from Rich Eisen on multiple fronts. First, from the standpoint of ESPN’s business with the NFL, Jimmy Pitaro can point to that relationship as maybe his most significant success story in leading ESPN. It wasn’t that long ago that ESPN and the NFL were at loggerheads, the NFL frustrated at ESPN’s coverage and ESPN frustrated with a ridiculously poor slate of Monday Night Football games.
However, that has all changed in recent years. ESPN poured tens of millions of dollars into putting top flight talent on MNF, getting Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from Fox. The ManningCast also came into being. The schedule greatly improved, playoff games were added, and now ESPN is irrevocably bonded together with the most influential entity in sports and entertainment and will broadcast their first Super Bowl next year. Of course, questions will now constantly follow ESPN’s NFL journalism and just how many strings Roger Goodell is pulling, but clearly ESPN has weighed that those concerns are worth the price of business in order to gain the investment they had long been seeking from a major partner.
And from the talent side, Pitaro has also led ESPN to a day and age where they are investing in talent more than ever and allowing them unmatched freedom and power in the 45+ year history of the network. The licensing deal for Pat McAfee, the Stephen A. Smith contract, and more examples show that modern day ESPN puts talent first. While that has led to some controversies that the network would surely love to avoid, ESPN has also made the calculation that it’s worth the headaches to draw fans in on a daily basis with big, bold personalities.
Rich Eisen isn’t going to step into the same waters that McAfee and Smith do on a daily basis. However, at this point in his career, he’s definitely earned the right to call his own shots more often than not. And the fact that he sees the ESPN-NFL deal as a win for both sides and is more excited about ESPN’s future than ever before is a huge endorsement for Jimmy Pitaro and how he’s reshaped the WorldWide Leader in Sports.