ESPN is seeking sports leagues as strategic partners: report

July 21, 2023 12:40 PM PDT | By Invezz

ESPN is seeking sports leagues as strategic partners: report — Image source: Invezz

Here’s what we know so far

The entertainment conglomerate had recently revealed interest in looking for a strategic partnership for ESPN (read more).

To that end, it has had preliminary talks with both NBA and the NFL, people familiar with the matter told CNBC today. According to a spokesperson for the National Basketball Association:

We have a longstanding relationship with Disney and look forward to continuing the discussions around the future of our partnership.

Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have negotiating rights (exclusive) with the NBA until 2024. The Association has discussed several potential structures with Disney related to renewal of media rights, as per the CNBC report.

Possible hurdles such a deal could face

CNBC also discovered from anonymous sources that other sports leagues like the National Hockey League and the Major League Baseball may also get involved if ESPN does indeed sign a deal with NBA and NFL.

It’s noteworthy, though, that such a move may not make as much sense for sports leagues as it does for the Walt Disney Co considering they sign media rights agreements with a bunch of partners to maximise revenue.

Also, there may be concerns around objectivity of reporting since ESPN has a huge team of journalists that cover sports events. The news arrives just weeks before Disney is scheduled to report its third-quarter financial results.

At writing, its shares are down about 25% versus their year-to-date high.

The post ESPN is seeking sports leagues as strategic partners: report appeared first on Invezz.

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media LLC (Kalkine Media, we or us) and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures/music displayed/used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source (public domain/CC0 status) to where it was found and indicated it, as necessary.