The historic media deal that was reached by ESPN and NFL Network last week has left many fans dreaming of the possibility of a college football RedZone, and a familiar face says he would have interest in hosting such a program.
ESPN last week agreed to a deal to acquire NFL Network, which includes the rights to NFL RedZone. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the deal, if and when it is finalized, will allow ESPN to apply the RedZone format to other sports should the network want to do that.
Scott Hanson has hosted NFL RedZone since the incredibly popular whip-around show’s inception in 2009. During a Monday appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Hanson said he would be very interested in hosting a college version of the show. He also laid out some issues he would envision ESPN running into.
Hanson noted that ESPN does not have the rights to every college conference. He also said the staggered kickoffs could become an issue and expressed concern about football fans not having as much widespread knowledge about college as they do the NFL.
“Here’s the other thing: If your favorite team is the New York Giants, fine, you know the New York Giants. You could probably still name the other 31 starting quarterbacks in the NFL,” Hanson said. “If your favorite team is the Alabama Crimson Tide, you probably know the Alabama Crimson Tide, but you can’t name me 30 other quarterbacks in college football. You might be able to name the rest of the SEC maybe or maybe some of the big opponents.
“College is not quite as accessible to the frontal lobe of the American sports fan as it is in the NFL.”
This said… would I do a “College RedZone”? You betcha.
— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) August 11, 2025
Thx @TomPelissero @RichEisenShow pic.twitter.com/CVPk68gkvp
ESPN has the rights to the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and American Conference. If they wanted to experiment with a potential college football RedZone channel, they would have more than enough games to choose from.
Hanson raised some valid points, but there would be ways for ESPN to get around all of those concerns if there was enough demand.
