Disney CEO looking to licensing future with ESPN sports betting ambitions
Returning executive Bob Iger walks back on own sportsbook brand launch but suggests global media giant will pursue licensing of ESPN property
Walt Disney Group CEO Bob Iger has suggested the global media giant will not be investing in developing its own gambling brand via ESPN but instead pursuing a sports betting licensing deal for its flagship sports broadcasting brand.
Iger, who previously spent 15 years as CEO of the global media giant, agreed to serve as Disney’s CEO for two years in November 2022, returning to a job he vacated in 2020.
In a broadbase interview with Time magazine, Iger spoke about the $250m the ESPN business invested in DraftKings’ sportsbook in 2015, prior to the repeal of PASPA in May 2018, but poured cold water on any notion of Disney deepening its investment links with gambling.
“Not really,” Iger said, when asked about the further potential for Disney’s investment in the space.
“ESPN is interested in figuring out a way to enable its consumers, who are watching sports on television or mobile devices or whatever, to participate in some form of sports betting without having to leave the experience completely.
“It’s basically trying to increase engagement,” he added.
Iger replaced Bob Chapek as CEO, with the latter pursuing a more open stance on sports betting than his successor.
Over the last two years of his tenure as CEO, Chapek had gone on record on several occasions to voice his support for Disney’s expansion into the vertical, suggesting the firm was “working hard” on a sportsbook app as recently as August 2022.
Iger, for his part, has previously dismissed any suggestion of sports betting being in Disney’s future due to a conflict with the values of the organization as a whole, a stance which his Time interview remarks suggest has softened.
“I was probably on the more conservative side about this for a long time. But I’ve changed because I think the acceptance of sports betting has grown significantly,” Iger said.
In October, prior to Iger’s return as CEO, reports on news site Bloomberg suggested ESPN would license its IP to DraftKings as part of a larger partnership with the US sportsbook operator, which caused a 9% spike in DraftKings’ share price.
While this partnership is yet to be confirmed by either party, Iger’s remarks will do nothing to quell speculation over a licensing deal with a sportsbook being in ESPN’s future.
“My desire is to see that the company continues to serve its consumers well, without us really, I think, distancing ourselves from values, because we’re not actually causing the bets to be made,” Iger said.
“We’re just enabling people to link to companies that do that. I don’t think it’s an issue,” the Disney CEO concluded.