NFL & ESPN UK : My Guess On What Happens Next

At the time of writing, there is still nothing in regards to NFL being available on Sky or ESPN.

With the first game of the regular season taking place in the early hours of this coming Thursday, I was expecting an announcement to have been made before now.

I've been mainly concerned about ESPN and whether they still plan to be stick with the UK. The company were meant to have shown the NFL Draft in April but - when the event was taking place - it was not on any TV in the UK.

Realistically, ESPN UK could last without NFL. It's another contract loss that made me think they may want to exit stage left.

Being outbid on some Premier League rights packages is definitely a cause for alarm.

ESPN's entire business plan for the United Kingdom will certainly have to change once the current football deal ends at the end of the current season.

Sure, you'll have the optimist pointing out that ESPN are sticking around because they've bought X this and Y that. To these people I say 'remember Setanta Sports?'

When Premier League football leaves ESPN, so will a majority of their customers.

And that's a fact.

These new contracts they are picking up along the way could, at the end of the day, be used as bargaining chips to sell on if they do decide to head back to the Magic Kingdom.

What is written above should be taken as speculation on my part. I have no inside knowledge of any TV deals other than what has been reported in the press.