Strategic Partnerships for ESPN Meant to Increase Distribution, Content Offerings Ahead of Pivot to Streaming
Strategic Partnerships for ESPN Meant to Increase Distribution, Content Offerings Ahead of Pivot to Streaming
Apparently, the interest in acquiring a minority stake in ESPN has been robust of late. That’s according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who spoke with Wall Street analysts and investors during a conference call to discuss his company’s quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.
When asked about Disney’s plans to launch a standalone, streaming version of the ESPN family of channels that doesn’t require a cable or satellite subscription, Iger said that the company has received attention from a great many sources that are potentially interested in becoming partners in such a venture.
“I must say we’re extremely encouraged with all the interest that we’ve had already in this regard,” Iger said.
Disney has reportedly had conversations with strategic partners about going in on an ESPN streaming platform as minority owners. The company has discussed this arrangement with both sports leagues and major tech companies, and Iger’s comments during the earnings call suggest that Disney could try to partner with one of each of these, as different partners can help it accomplish different goals.
“The strategic partnerships that we’re looking to create and that we’re actually in discussions about are aimed at accomplishing a few things: one, content, meaning increasing the content that ESPN offers; and two, possibly, I’ll call it distribution and marketing support,” Iger explained. “And it’s possible that we’ll be able to do both — and this is all being done with an eye toward the inevitability of taking the ESPN flagship over-the-top [OTT].”
Partnering with a sports league could well lead to an increase in content on the ESPN family of channels, which are not exactly hurting for live sports. The channels broadcast games from the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, and just about every other college and professional sport on the planet is broadcast on the channel at some point or other. But selling a stake in ESPN to the NFL, for example, could give ESPN a larger package of exclusive NFL games; alternatively, partnering with a sports league could give ESPN the ability to create behind-the-scenes documentaries and other content users won’t find elsewhere.
The marketing and distribution support aspect is where tech companies come in. Disney already has a partnership with Apple that will see the tech company’s new augmented reality headset launch preloaded with Disney+ in every unit. It could easily team with Apple, or another phone manufacturer to install the new ESPN streaming experience in new devices.
All options are still on the table for Disney regarding ESPN. The company is open to selling its sports vertical entirely if the strategic partnerships it’s looking for can’t be found, but it clearly has a well-defined strategy in place for making a streaming version of ESPN successful. The company plans to launch such a product around 2025; until then, users will have to make do with the thousands of live sporting events available on ESPN+.
ESPN Select
ESPN Select is a streaming service that replaced ESPN+ and provides access to live NHL, MLB, and MLS games, PGA Tour Golf, international sports events, ESPN original programming, and a complete archive of “30 for 30.” Find out our review of the service and how to start streaming ESPN Select.