ESPN has been in discussions with some of professional sports’ most powerful leagues, including the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, about acquiring minority stakes in their businesses.
The Walt Disney Company-controlled cable network has been in exploratory talks with leagues as it seeks to navigate the streaming era, three people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity about the private discussions.
Disney declined to comment.
Disney CEO Robert A. Iger said: CNBC interview The company announced last week that it is “seeking strategic partners” who can help ESPN with either distribution or content. “But we want to stay in the sports business,” said Iger, whose contract with Disney was recently extended to 2026.
With Disney facing expensive contract renewals with sports leagues, including the NBA, selling its stake in ESPN could inject cash into Disney, which is sure to demand a premium for game rights over the next few years. Hurst owns magazines such as Cosmopolitan, information services such as Fitch Group, and has a minority stake in ESPN.
ESPN (Disney’s longtime profit center, which bought the network in 1995) has come under pressure in recent years as viewers cut cable cords in favor of streaming services. Meanwhile, the cost of sports rights has been driven up by new entrants such as Apple, Amazon and YouTube. The cable network, whose business is in irreversible decline, will have a tough time trying to outbid well-funded tech companies.
Disney executives have stressed that ESPN’s future lies in streaming. bloomberg and wall street journal Recently, the sports network reported that it is laying the groundwork to make its primary channel, long only on cable, available to streaming audiences. That would be a turning point for traditional TV companies that have stayed put by offering live sports to cable subscribers.
CNBC previously reported A professional sports league is in talks to invest in ESPN.
Disney is also facing pressure from a string of activist investors, including Trian Fund Management. The company’s founder, Nelson Peltz, who was set to urge Disney to improve its succession planning, dropped a fight for a board seat this year. The company owns about 6.4 million Disney shares, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified.
brooks burns Contributed to the report.
