Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN this week reached a non-binding agreement to acquire the NFL Network and related league media assets in exchange for granting the National Football League a 10 percent equity stake in the sports channel. The pact extends ESPN’s rights to key NFL programming, including the draft and expanded digital highlights, and gives the network the ability to brand additional sports coverage under the RedZone moniker, a format the league says could be adapted for college football. The tie-up is designed to bolster ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service, scheduled to debut on Aug. 21. While Disney eventually plans to bundle the service at no extra cost for traditional pay-TV subscribers, industry reports indicate that most cable and virtual MVPD customers will have to pay separately at launch, a move that analysts warn could create short-term consumer confusion. Competition lawyers say the transaction is likely to draw scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice because it combines the nation’s most popular sports league with the largest sports broadcaster, potentially concentrating market power and driving up viewing costs. Obtaining antitrust clearance could take up to a year, according to legal experts cited by Reuters. Separately, Disney’s streaming ambitions continued to widen in Europe: Disney+ will carry one La Liga match each week in the United Kingdom and Ireland under a three-year agreement beginning with the 2025-26 season, complementing ESPN’s existing U.S. rights to Spain’s top football division.