The National Football League will sell most of its media businesses to Walt Disney Co. in exchange for a 10% stake in the ESPN sports networks, deepening the ties between the league and one of its top broadcast partners.

The morning after the Walt Disney Co. and the NFL formally announced their blockbuster equity-for-assets swap, Bob Iger told investors the deal may well be the biggest thing to hit ESPN in nearly 40 years.

Ever since the NFL announced it was looking to sell NFL Network and other media assets, ESPN had been seen as one of the favourites to make a deal. Nearly five years later, a framework is finally in place.