The NFL on Tuesday agreed to pay out nearly $800 million to compensate former players who may be suffering from long-term brain injuries as a result of years of playing professional football.

The settlement, announced after months of court-ordered mediation, also must be approved by a federal judge. More than 4,500 former pro-football players – including Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos; Jim McMahon, who led the 1986 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl victory; Kevin Turner, who played running back for the New England Patriots and now suffers from Lou Gehrig’s Disease; and the family of San Diego Charger Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year – have been pursuing a settlement with the league since 2011.

The final settlement will cover all 18,000 former NFL players and totals $765 million, according to the Associated Press. It also would set aside $75 million for medical exams and $10 million for medical research on the long-term effects of repeated brain injuries, including those induced by concussion.

The settlement comes one week after ESPN pulled out of a joint project with PBS’ “Frontline” to air a hard-hitting documentary on how the NFL handles head injuries, according to the New York Times. “Frontline,” however, is still scheduled to air the documentary, titled “League of Denial” in October, according to the series’ website.

While $800 million is no small amount of money, it’s a drop in the bucket for the NFL, which in 2014 is expected to earn approximately $7 billion annually in television rights fees from broadcast networks, ESPN, DIRECTV, NFL Network and other sources, according to Forbes.

Brief Take: Making this deal on the eve of the NFL’s new season is good public relations. Moreover, even with the tragedy of long-term brain trauma affecting many NFL veterans, it’s unlikely that fans will stop watching America’s favorite sport.

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