A BALL ESPN COULDN'T AFFORD TO DROP

The NFL's new deal with NBC and ESPN has gotten more spin than the teacup ride at Disney World. In replacing ABC, the ubiquitous sports network is paying about twice what its sister company had been shelling out for a prime-time show that may be past its prime. And the new deal is nearly twice the $600 million a year ESPN had been paying to carry games on Sunday night. ESPN, however, points out that it also gets rights to wireless and Spanish-language telecasts. And Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen figures that because of the dual revenue streams of ads and subscriber fees, football could generate operating profits of $100 million to $200 million a year for ESPN, vs. a $150 million-a-year loss for ABC.