ESPN to be sold in 2023????

[uconntailgater]

Looks like Disney wants to jettison ABC and ESPN. The cord cutting and the cord nevers are finally catching up to ESPN. I am curious as to why FOX, CBS, and NBC weren’t more aggressive with going after additional Pac 12 teams (Oregon, WA, Stamford, Cal)? The four corner teams could’ve gone to the Big12. This could have to put a real dent in ESPN’s inventory availability.

Disney will dump 'cash cow' ESPN and ABC in late 2023, Wells Fargo predicts

Wells Fargo bank analysts are predicting the return of Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger will lead to a spinoff of ESPN and ABC.

www.foxbusiness.com

 

[CL82]

Looks like Disney wants to jettison ABC and ESPN. The cord cutting and the cord nevers are finally catching up to ESPN. I am curious as to why FOX, CBS, and NBC weren’t more aggressive with going after additional Pac 12 teams (Oregon, WA, Stamford, Cal)? The four corner teams could’ve gone to the Big12. This could have to put a real dent in ESPN’s inventory availability.

Disney will dump 'cash cow' ESPN and ABC in late 2023, Wells Fargo predicts

Wells Fargo bank analysts are predicting the return of Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger will lead to a spinoff of ESPN and ABC.

www.foxbusiness.com

Should we take up a collection on the Boneyard? Our own sports network would be a handy thing to have.

 

[Hogoff]

Should we take up a collection on the Boneyard? Our own sports network would be a handy thing to have.

I’m in.

 

[Slasher]

A wall street analyst predicting it isn't the same as Disney looking to jettison. This has been a rumor for seemingly forever and it has always been some "analyst" that suggests it.

 

[uconntailgater]

Michael Eisner has returned as CEO and he has mentioned that he wants a spin off ESPN and ABC.

 

[Slasher]

Bob Iger is the CEO and he recently said ESPN is a key piece of Disney. Of course that doesn't rule it out but there's several articles going the other direction:

John Skipper: Bob Iger’s Return Won’t Effect ESPN

“If you’re going to win the streaming wars, you’re going to have to have sports.

barrettsportsmedia.com

It's just analyst speculation.

 

[UConnJim]

What will decide the fate of ESPN will be the conversion of consumers to streaming at a profitable price. If Disney can't do that, ESPN will be either spun off or sold.

 

[uconntailgater]

Bob Iger is the CEO and he recently said ESPN is a key piece of Disney. Of course that doesn't rule it out but there's several articles going the other direction:

John Skipper: Bob Iger’s Return Won’t Effect ESPN

“If you’re going to win the streaming wars, you’re going to have to have sports.

barrettsportsmedia.com

It's just analyst speculation.

Yes, Bob Iger, cut and paste error on my end.

 

[Chin Diesel]

They do a good job of explaining the difference between internally generated and owned Intellectual Property (IP) and licensed property.

Disney creates its own IP; ESPN licenses IP from the schools and leagues that create the property.

Disney has the ability to directly send its product to the consumer and the consumer decides the worth on it. ESPN has to convince the teams and leagues that ESPN is the best avenue to promote their product. And other entertainment avenues compete with ESPN for those rights which means you end up overpaying for the rights and that drags down corporate profits.

 

[billybud]

They do a good job of explaining the difference between internally generated and owned Intellectual Property (IP) and licensed property.

Disney creates its own IP; ESPN licenses IP from the schools and leagues that create the property.

Disney has the ability to directly send its product to the consumer and the consumer decides the worth on it. ESPN has to convince the teams and leagues that ESPN is the best avenue to promote their product. And other entertainment avenues compete with ESPN for those rights which means you end up overpaying for the rights and that drags down corporate profits.

No real difference between ESPN and Fox, NBC, etc. in that media companies do not own the teams and must pay for media rights....Bunches for the Big Ten.

As long as live sports is a product of demand, folks will pay for it.....Main line media companies seem to have a mix of IP and licensed properties. Disney could, I guess, move from that model and spin off their sports.

The clouds in the coffee is the change in paradigm from linear to streaming programming.

And...ESPN is a different model than the rest of Disney and convincing investors is a problem for the CEO.

 

[UConnJim]

No real difference between ESPN and Fox, NBC, etc. in that media companies do not own the teams and must pay for media rights....Bunches for the Big Ten.

As long as live sports is a product of demand, folks will pay for it.....Main line media companies seem to have a mix of IP and licensed properties. Disney could, I guess, move from that model and spin off their sports.

The clouds in the coffee is the change in paradigm from linear to streaming programming.

ESPN gets about $9/month from the cable bundle today for their networks. If the bundle goes away and only 20% of people with the bundle want ESPN networks, they would have to pay $45/month to keep ESPN's subscription fees flat and probably an even higher rate because viewership would fall leading to lower advertising rates as you will lose many casual fans with the higher price. Sports on ESPN have been subsidized by people who don't watch sports and that is going to change.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I don’t think they will sell ESPN, it is more that they will spin it off.

Working in IR after I left journalism, the big issue that came up with investors how diversified industrials made no sense. The theory from the GE hey day was always steady growth as you own businesses. with different business cycles.

But, that is out of style, especially with the tech multiples out there. People want explosive growth.

ESPN carried Disney in the late 90s and 2000s prior to core cutting. Now? Disney Parks have printed money last 10 years and the studio is god (less
So now post infinity saga).

But, cable is in secular decline. The only way to keep ESPN on top is to pay top dollar for content.

While ESPN still turns an operational profit, it’s explosive growth days over. I see these multimedia conglomerates really breaking up.

 

[Kolumbo]

I still can't believe espn kept building and building, and this doesn't even capture all of its properties in Bristol. With studios all over the country and its main product on location, this would seem to be quite the baggage.

 

[CL82]

ESPN carried Disney in the late 90s and 2000s prior to core cutting. Now? Disney Parks have printed money last 10 years and the studio is god (less
So now post infinity saga).

Actually, Disney profits are way down as is their stock price. It still is a cash cow but the trend is downward. I think they’re thinking that bringing Iger back will reverse that. It’s unclear.

ABC’s a nice complementary piece for Disney because it gives it another outlet to utilize. It’s IP. ESPN was always an odd fit, I suspect it was picked up with an eye towards the Hulu Disney channel ESPN bundle.

 

[CL82]

I still can't believe espn kept building and building, and this doesn't even capture all of its properties in Bristol. With studios all over the country and its main product on location, this would seem to be quite the baggage.

View attachment 82308

Should the state pick it up after the eventual tax default and make it the UConn main campus? We could build all new stadia there. It would be much more convenient for Fairfield County fans.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Actually, Disney profits are way down as is their stock price. It still is a cash cow but the trend is downward. I think they’re thinking that bringing Iger back will reverse that. It’s unclear.

ABC’s a nice complementary piece for Disney because it gives it another outlet to utilize. It’s IP. ESPN was always an odd fit, I suspect it was picked up with an eye towards the Hulu Disney channel ESPN bundle.

Yeah. That’s post Covid though right?

 

[JohnFSilver]

I still can't believe espn kept building and building, and this doesn't even capture all of its properties in Bristol. With studios all over the country and its main product on location, this would seem to be quite the baggage.

View attachment 82308

ESPN always gonna be in Bristol. Corp leadership might leave, but the studios will stay. Just because they are there.

 

[CL82]

Yeah. That’s post Covid though right?

Yep, but even more so recently. It’s been a fairly precipitous drop.

 

[Stinger92860]

The theory from the GE hey day,,,

…was a huge lie. GE was a house of cards.

 

[JohnFSilver]

…was a huge lie. GE was a house of cards.

Welch was lauded as a great manager. He essentially financialized the company and destroyed the talent base by his stupid rating system.

 

[Stinger92860]

The money was pouring in through Financial Services. Jack had no hand in that. He killed GE.

 

[Kolumbo]

ESPN always gonna be in Bristol. Corp leadership might leave, but the studios will stay. Just because they are there.

How many of those buildings are studios? It also has studios in NYC and LA and employees all over the country. At some point espn will need to sell/dump most of those buildings. I'm surprised it didn't just build studios in Orlanda or Southern Cal.

ESPN, Inc. Fact Sheet

ESPN, the world’s leading multiplatform sports entertainment brand, features eight U.S. television networks, the leading sports app, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, leading social and digital platforms, ESPN.com, ESPN Audio, endeavors on every continent around the world, and more. ESPN is 80 percent...

espnpressroom.com

• Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN has approximately 3,800 employees (4,600 worldwide). ESPN Plaza includes more than 1.3 million square feet in 19 buildings on 120 acres (additional 200,000+ sq. ft. is rented in two locations nearby).

 

[JohnFSilver]

The money was pouring in through Financial Services. Jack had no hand in that. He killed GE.

Absolutely did. He had everything about stock price and EPS. I am a big six sigma guy, but he absolutely went against CI philosophy by cutting staff at all cost. That is not what lean is.

He also made all this money, driving stock price because, the accounting rules pre Enron were all a bunch of BS. It was smoke and mirrors. Where did all that profit go from 1980 to 2020? Returned to shareholders through buybacks. Is that a joke? No other products to develop?


They smoothed books and moved money around and would layoff people all the time, only to rehire. But the street loves layoffs.

Once Sarbanes Oxley went into affect, and companies actually had to have accounting standards, the company struggled.

I am taking a radical take here, but I think the entire quarterly earnings BS as absolute BS.

Too short term oriented, as if Wall Street’s goals are equal to the companies goals.

Welch and that management style destroyed the middle class in this country and destroyed our manufacturing base.

 

[uconnfan68]

No real difference between ESPN and Fox, NBC, etc. in that media companies do not own the teams and must pay for media rights....Bunches for the Big Ten.

As long as live sports is a product of demand, folks will pay for it.....Main line media companies seem to have a mix of IP and licensed properties. Disney could, I guess, move from that model and spin off their sports.

The clouds in the coffee is the change in paradigm from linear to streaming programming.

And...ESPN is a different model than the rest of Disney and convincing investors is a problem for the CEO.

ESPN has been a cash cow for Disney for decades. Was 30+% of profit at 2% overhead for a long time. Yeah, it’s not anymore, but it’s still profitable. Iger passed the reins to Chapek, and now he’s gone and Iger is back. Who knows what they’re planning? Someone on the street? I don’t think so.

 

[uconnfan68]

ESPN always gonna be in Bristol. Corp leadership might leave, but the studios will stay. Just because they are there.

Leadership has always been in NYC. If they could replicate the studios for a reasonable price, they might leave, but they’d lose a lot. They have a lot of advantages there, thanks to CT.