Comcast president says ESPN partnership is 'very improbable'

During the company's second quarter earnings call on Thursday, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh threw cold water on speculation that the media giant could become a "strategic partner" with Disney's ESPN. 

In speaking of the rival sports network, Cavanagh said that any union between the two companies over the biggest name in sports is "very improbable." According to an account on Deadline, he added:

“As you’d imagine, there are tremendous issues around tax, minority shareholders and structuring generally,” he said. “So, I would put aside the probability that there’s anything inorganic that’s likely to happen around ESPN in particular.”

Speculation has run rampant since Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that he would explore a "strategic partner" for ESPN as his company looks at its future in light of trends that have roiled legacy media. Iger said that while Disney may look to sell some of its television networks, which include broadcast channel ABC and cable networks such as the Disney Channel and Freeform, he was protective of ESPN, which was recently reorganized as its own division within the Disney umbrella.

Just recently it was reported that Iger and ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro had discussions with leadership with some sports leagues about possible ownership stakes in the network, including the NFL and NBA. ESPN has multibillion-dollar broadcasting rights with those two leagues, along with Major League Baseball, and is currently in a negotiation window to renew its deal with the NBA before that pact expires after the 2024-25 season.

Yet the discussion of ESPN on Comcast's call is fascinating for multiple reasons. Iger and Comcast chairman/CEO Brian Roberts are bitter enemies, at least in terms of the cloistered but famed world of media powerbrokers. Comcast made a hostile takeover bid for Disney back in 2003, which spurred Disney's board of directors to replace then-CEO Michael Eisner with Iger before the latter would have an unprecedented run of successes through ESPN's expansion and the acquisitions of Marvel and Pixar. Iger and Roberts also sparred over 20th Century Fox assets, some which Disney would buy and was forced to sell, leading to the creation of Diamond Sports Group.

Comcast hasn't had a national sports channel since shuttering NBC Sports Network, formerly the Outdoor Life Network and Versus, on New Year's Day in 2022. NBCSN was the longtime home of the NHL until the hockey league signed broadcast rights deals with ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports (now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery).