Roger Goodell hints at College Football RedZone channel amid ESPN deal

Roger Goodell has hinted that a RedZone channel for college football could be in the works in the future amid the historic deal in which ESPN acquired the NFL Network.

“ESPN purchased the RedZone name, and they will be able to utilize that for other sports, college football and other things, and I think that could be an exciting thing for our fans also to see a RedZone, maybe in college football or other sports,” Goodell said.

He added: “That’s something that they now own and have the ability to do that. But as far as RedZone, NFL RedZone, there won’t be any changes for our plans.”

RedZone, a game changer

RedZone has been one of the most influential media developments in the history of sports broadcasting, initially debuting in 2005 and then with host Scott Hansen in 2009.

Since it first went live, RedZone has been close to the ideal in any football-watching experience, airing constant game action for most of the day, showing the best plays and highlights, and doing it basically without any commercial interruption.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of a possible venture into college football for the RedZone property, after Disney chief executive Bob Iger revealed that the new branding could allow ESPN to launch new channels in other sports in the future.

Still, this would appear to be a long way into the future, as the deal has only just gone through and still has to meet certain regulatory hurdles, so any actual expansion into college football would take months if not years.

Something like it has existed in the past, albeit briefly, when ESPN Goal Line aired some college football action, but that project shut down in 2020.

Who would be involved?

One key beneficiary of such a network would be the SEC, as ESPN has the sole media rights to air the conference’s football games, and further expansion could include ACC and Big 12 teams in addition to some Group of Five conferences.

That would appear to leave the Big Ten, which has media contracts with NBC, CBS, and Fox to air its football games, but no such agreement in place with ESPN.

As for the existing RedZone channel, Goodell promised there will be no major changes for fans in the future. 

“It’ll continue to be produced right here in this building,” Goodell said from the NFL Network’s broadcast studio when asked about the future of NFL RedZone. “It will be the NFL RedZone. I don’t think fans will see any difference to that.”

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