HOUSTON, TX - FEBRUARY 03: Signage is seen during the 13th Annual ESPN The Party on February 3, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for ESPN)

ESPN takes another huge hit as another NFL program is heading to a rival network

This one hurts for ESPN.

For years, the NFL Draft and ESPN have been synonymous. However, this year the draft will have a new home.

According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal and Pro Football Talk, FOX has acquired the rights to the NFL Draft.

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NFL Network and FOX will air the first three rounds of the draft. The first round is on Thursday, while rounds two and three will be broadcasted on Friday.

FOX might not be able to air rounds 4-7 due to prior obligations, but NFL Network still has the rights to the draft.

The news of the deal comes after FOX acquired the rights to broadcast NFL's Thursday Night Football for the next five years.

This certainly hurts ESPN as it loses a major event from its NFL coverage. FOX was obviously willing to pay more for additional NFL exposure, and it leaves ESPN with much less live NFL events.