Rich Eisen wonders if NFL Network losing schedule-release show is ‘indication’

As much as Rich Eisen might be hoping for NFL Network to continue operating as usual under ESPN’s umbrella, the changes have already begun.

ESPN’s merger with NFL Media became official earlier this year. And it shouldn’t be considered a coincidence that NFL Network now has its own schedule-release show for the first time, now that it sits under the ESPN umbrella.

Eisen joined The Dan Patrick Show Friday morning to preview his new This Was SportsCenter podcast series. During his appearance, Patrick also asked about the future of NFL Network, with Eisen attempting to downplay any concern.

“The games are still on NFL Network, there’s seven of them. Five international and two others,” Eisen said. “I have been told Sunday NFL GameDay Morning that I’m hosting is the same, and so is the combine and the draft. We’re still going to have the combine, and we’re still going to have the draft. The rest of it, I mean, we didn’t have a schedule-release show for the first time in years. I don’t know if that’s an indication.”

NFL Network deserves credit for turning the schedule release into an event, with Eisen even noting it stemmed from the need to find ways to create content during the offseason. And it’s noteworthy that the show’s end comes now that ESPN holds the keys to NFL Network.

As Eisen explained, seven games will still air on NFL Network next season, which should temper any concern about their future. But notable changes are coming to those games as well. Eisen previously called NFL Network’s schedule of international games alongside Kurt Warner, which likely won’t be the case this season. ESPN is expected to build a new No. 2 NFL booth, with Dave Pasch and Mike Monaco reportedly among the leading candidates for the play-by-play role.

We’re two months removed from ESPN assuming control of NFL Network, and we’ve already seen tangible changes. As much as Rich Eisen and Ian Rapoport have stated that they expect the network to be business as usual because it’s proven to be a successful product, the history of mergers and acquisitions makes it difficult to believe that all changes will come to an abrupt stop at the scheduled release show.

Even if NFL GameDay Morning returns to NFL Network every Sunday this upcoming season, how many seasons will ESPN want to keep it as counter-programming to their Sunday NFL Countdown? Hopefully, the answer is for a long time. But that remains to be seen.