Bulls of the week

It was a bullish week for both the National Football League and ESPN, with the NFL gaining a 10 per cent stake in the American cable giant and the Disney-owned sports network taking on the rights to and operations of NFL Network and Red Zone TV. It’s a game-changing deal for the way leagues and their media rights holders relate to one another, on and off the field, so to speak. Watch for it to lead to many similar arrangements involving other leagues and their rights holders. It will only further elevate the upside and preferred position held by official rights holders, not only in the NFL but across all major men’s and women’s professional sports leagues operating in North America. Yet it will also lead to ongoing scrutiny and second-guessing of league decisions given t

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