ESPN spoke with NBA, NFL about 'strategic partnership,' potential ownership stakes
Leaders at ESPN had early talks with the NBA and NFL about a "strategic partnership," which could lend to potential ownership stakes in the network, per Alex Sherman at CNBC.
Last week while joining other media leaders at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Farber that the company is considering selling some of its media operations but charted a different path for ESPN.
Iger said that he would be looking for a "strategic partner," but offered few details at the time other than stating that the union "could take the form of a joint venture or offloading an ownership stake."
Sherman reports that he and ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro have spoken with sports leagues about bringing them into the fold as minority owners, namely the NBA and NFL, which both have heavy presences on the network.
Whether anything comes from those conversations in the immediate future is hard to determine, but Sherman notes that any further partnership between ESPN and either or both leagues would be a boost for Disney:
The move would be a logical one for Disney as it tries to move past the traditional cable subscriber model and underscores how badly the company wants to find a solution for the sports network as its linear subscribers decline. Still, ESPN ratings have climbed in recent years on major sporting events. There’s no better partner for sports content than the leagues, themselves.
Superficially, it may make less sense for the NBA and NFL, which sign lucrative media rights deals with many media partners that fuel team revenue and player salaries with a range of media companies.
As with just about every television channel, ESPN has been greatly impacted by cord-cutting as consumers continue to give up on typically large cable packages (or cable, period) for streaming options.
Sports have been propping up live viewership for traditional media owners, yet they are also the most expensive properties in their offerings, and those costs have generally been passed down to consumers through higher subscription fees and to cable & satellite operators through affiliate fees.
Disney is also in the negotiation window with the NBA as its broadcasting rights agreement is due to expire after the 2024-25 season. The NBA is no stranger to deeper partnerships with a broadcaster as Warner Bros. Discovery manages NBA TV. The NFL is also looking for a way to offload some equity in its media properties, notably the NFL Network.
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