Don Van Natta Jr. admits he’s concerned about ESPN-NFL partnership, but says he’s been told nothing will change

Even before the partnership between ESPN and the NFL became official, many expressed concerns about the potential conflict of interest.

And fair or not, Don Van Natta Jr. has become one of the faces of that subject, as the ESPN investigative reporter has defended his and his employer’s track records.

But despite publicly taking issue with Dan Patrick’s comments on the matter, Van Natta admitted to Puck’s John Ourand that he is, in fact, worried about ESPN’s current predicament. Nevertheless, the Pulitzer Prize winner said that he’s been promised that when it comes to his work, nothing will change. In fact, Van Natta says he is currently working on a project focused on the NFL, which he still expects to make to be published.

“Of course I’m concerned, but I’ve had assurances from everyone who I work with that nothing will change,” Van Natta said, as relayed in Ourand’s Friday newsletter. “I am deep into an investigative project about the National Football League, and I believe it will be published just as it would’ve been published before the NFL became a part owner of ours.”

Despite those assurances, the reality is that the conflict of interest — or at least the perception of one — still exists. And while one could certainly argue that ESPN (and just about every other sports broadcaster) was already beholden to the NFL as a media rights partner, the league owning a 10 percent stake in the Disney-owned cable channel once the deal receives regularity approval only puts those impartiality issues under a brighter spotlight.

Van Natta Jr. understandably shares the same concerns, but has yet to be given any indication that ESPN’s impending partnership with the NFL will impact his investigative work. To that end, it will certainly be interesting to see what his upcoming NFL-focused project brings — both for the content itself and the internal and external reactions it will elicit.