Disney Found Its New ‘Strategic Partner’ And It’s a Big One

When you’re in business, you always seek a partnership to bring your product to the masses. But if you could somehow get the blessing of a titan of industry, like Warren Buffett, that could carry more weight than any celebrity endorsement. It appears that the Walt Disney Company is about to get the blessing of the entertainment version of Buffett.

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Andrew Marchand of the New York Post is reporting that Disney/ESPN are nearing a “strategic partnership” deal that would give the NFL a stake in ESPN and allow ESPN to take over the NFL Network and NFL Red Zone Network. Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger said he was looking for a “strategic partner” to help with ESPN’s transition to streaming only, and he may have just landed the biggest fish in the sea.

It’s hard to understate just how big the NFL is in America. According to Variety, of the top 30 most-watched programs in 2023, only three were not NFL games. ESPN already has a contract with the league to broadcast Monday Night Football, but this partnership will give ESPN access to the NFL’s library of games and original programming. ESPN will also air the NFL’s Red Zone Network, which shows every score of every NFL game on Sunday.

The NFL and the NFL Players’ Association have already met to discuss how they will share the potential revenue this deal would bring into the league. That alone is a sign that the deal is nearly complete.

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The NFL has contracts with ESPN, Fox, CBS, and NBC to air its games on its linear networks. The league also has deals with YouTube and Amazon Prime to stream its games. This partnership with ESPN would allow the Disney-owned network to take over streaming at the end of the decade when its contracts expire.

But as ESPN changes to a streaming-only platform, perhaps as early as this year, this deal gives them even more content and a possible unintended side effect: gambling.

BET ESPN

Last year, ESPN announced they were partnering with PENN Entertainment to create ESPN Bet. It will be a sports betting app that will be available this fall in the 16 states where PENN Entertainment is licensed. That opportunity allowed ESPN to enter the lucrative sports gambling field and created a new revenue source for the Disney Company. As a part of the deal, Penn writes a $1.5 billion check to Disney and another $500 million in stock options.

NEWS: ESPN and the NFL are in advanced talks that would give league a stake in the network, The Post has learned.https://t.co/trsHL0ZPzU

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 13, 2024

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But Penn Gambling wasn’t exactly a household name before its deal with ESPN. When the app launched in November, it was only available in 17 states and not in Connecticut, California, or Florida, the three states Disney/ESPN calls home.

But with the NFL behind them, BET ESPN could become the official gambling site of the league, which would open it up to millions of users.

This is one of those deals that could be a win/win for both sides as they seek to create an entertainment juggernaut.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.