Analyst Believes that Comcast Could Buy Part of ESPN as Disney Looks for Partners to Launch Standalone Streamer

If Disney is serious about looking for partners to help launch an all-encompassing ESPN streaming entity, a long-time rival could swoop in and help make it happen. During an appearance on “The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast,” Bank of America managing director Jessica Reif Ehrlich said that she thinks Comcast could buy part of ESPN in a larger deal to acquire more of Hulu as well.

Last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger shocked many media onlookers by not only telling CNBC that he was open to selling the company’s entertainment-focused linear channels, but that he was also looking for strategic partners to help ESPN launch its standalone streaming service. While many assumed the most likely partners would be venture capitalists, Ehrlich’s mind went in another direction.

“The first thing that I thought of when [Iger] mentioned content distribution, maybe a little bit financial, it just screams one company, and that company is Comcast,” she told Ourand and Marchand. “They’re clearly in negotiations for the Hulu outcome, which kind of seemed like it was on a path that Disney would buy it, but now it’s much more interesting.”

Buying a portion of ESPN would be a way for Comcast and NBCUniversal to further bolster its sports presence and potentially get in on the upcoming NBA broadcasting rights negotiations.

“Comcast has so many sports assets and sports aspirations, and they clearly have distribution,” Ehrlich explained. “They have an amazing balance sheet, they have a company that’s kind of become mid-sized — it’s not big, it’s not small — in NBCUniversal, and there’s been tons and tons of speculation in media, that they are very interested in NBA. And what Bob [Iger] said as part of this strategic negotiation was it’s likely before … they finalize the NBA negotiations. That’s why it screams Comcast to me.”

CLIP: Bank of America’s Jessica Reif Ehrlich says Bob Iger’s comments screams for an ESPN deal with Comcast.

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— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 19, 2023

A move to acquire at least a portion of ESPN makes sense based on the company’s recent moves. On December 31, 2021, NBC Sports Network was sunset and the company’s remaining sports portfolio was shifted to USA Network and CNBC. Acquiring some of ESPN would give NBCU the ability to add more sports to its offerings without necessarily spending as much money on the costs associated with broadcasting them. The two entities could also cross-promote their similar sports, like NFL games or NBC’s English Premier League with ESPN’s LaLiga coverage.

It would also let them get in on the coveted NBA rights without having to directly compete with ESPN. NBC lost the NBA rights in 2002 following that year’s NBA Finals, a 4-0 sweep by the Lakers against the New Jersey Nets. For all sports fans, a reunion of the NBA and NBC (and the return of “Roundball Rock”) would be celebrated.

There would no doubt be some legal red tape that would need to be cleared, as a deal between NBC Sports and ESPN could raise some antitrust questions. But with so many other sports options readily available, any legal pushback would likely be moved aside.