ESPN and the NFL reached agreement on...

ESPN and the NFL reached agreement on a new $450-million, four-year contract, similar to one agreed to last week by Turner Broadcasting, which will have cable rights to Sunday night games during the first half of the next four seasons.

ESPN will get 35 regular-season Sunday night games in the second half of the 1990-93 seasons, eight next season and nine in each of the next three. ESPN will also televise three exhibitions and the Pro Bowl each year.

Three years ago, ESPN became the NFL’s first cable outlet, televising eight Sunday night games in the second half of each season. It paid approximately $55 million a year for the rights.

The new contract averages out to $112.5 million a year.