ESPN and NFL Network personalities will show up on both networks once Disney’s acquisition clears regulatory approval. Burke Magnus confirmed as much last week when Jimmy Traina asked the ESPN president of content directly about talent crossover between the two operations.

“For sure,” Magnus said on the SI Media podcast when asked if Adam Schefter could appear on NFL Network. “It stands to reason that obviously talent would flow in both directions.”

Magnus will oversee NFL Network once Disney assumes full ownership of the channel, unlike the hands-off licensing arrangements ESPN has struck with The Pat McAfee Show or TNT’s Inside the NBA. That means Magnus and his team will have direct operational control over programming, talent deployment, and the overall direction of NFL Network once the deal closes.

Despite that control, Magnus insisted ESPN won’t turn NFL Network into a clone of its parent company.

“We don’t want to blend them to such a degree that their identities start to meld,” Magnus said. “I think the NFL Network has a very different brand and a very different voice in many ways, and we think that we like that, we think that’s important.”

Magnus pointed to the NFL Draft as the clearest example. ESPN’s draft coverage is built around Mel Kiper Jr. and a sprawling on-location set. NFL Network counters with Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis, and Kurt Warner. The voices are different, the presentation is different, and Magnus said those distinctions matter even after ESPN owns both productions.

ESPN has a perception issue — fair or not — of making acquired properties feel like ESPN. Magnus addressed that by framing the deal as combining resources rather than absorbing NFL Network into the Worldwide Leader’s operation.

“This is a great problem for us to have,” Magnus said. “When we dive in and really start thinking about how we combine these two things in many ways, even though they’ll continue to be obviously separate networks, what I hope is that it’s a one plus one equals three situation. They have a lot of talented voices over there. We obviously do too. They cover the NFL. It’s a 24/7 endeavor for pretty much both of us at this point, year-round in coverage of this league that is so popular and commands so much attention every day, all day.”

Both networks already cover the NFL around the clock. The challenge Magnus outlined is making that coverage better by sharing resources without losing what makes each network work.

And part of what makes the NFL Network work is Good Morning Football, which Magnus called the league network’s biggest success story. He added that figuring out what that show looks like under ESPN ownership is one of the more intriguing parts of the deal. GMFB has survived multiple cast changes and remains one of the most consistent morning sports shows on TV. The show’s success comes from its chemistry and willingness to be lighter than ESPN’s typical NFL coverage.

Of course, none of this can happen until federal regulators sign off on the deal. Magnus said the approval process has ESPN stuck in an awkward position where they own NFL Network on paper but can’t actually do anything with it.

“Unfortunately, the government approval filter on this thing is not insignificant,” Magnus explained. “It severely limits the depth by which we can involve ourselves in the business for a period of time. There’s all kinds of gun-jumping provisions that limit how much we can influence what’s happening there.”

Magnus indicated there’s no specific timeline for when regulators might approve the deal. That uncertainty creates a hard deadline in early May, when the NFL finalizes its 2026 season schedule. The league builds its schedule after the Super Bowl and has it ready by then. If regulators haven’t signed off by May, the deal gets pushed to 2027.

Until then, Magnus is left selling a vision he can’t execute yet.

Magnus talked a confident game about preserving the NFL Network’s identity while making both networks better through collaboration. The execution of that plan starts with Good Morning Football. What happens to that show once ESPN controls the budget and programming will tell us whether Magnus can actually pull off what he’s promising, or if NFL Network just becomes another ESPN channel.