Summary
- Football continues to be one of most lucrative investments for TV networks, but the distribution of licenses comes with a few quirks, most noticeably with Disney.
- While Disney’s ESPN network has the “Monday Night Football” franchise, that slate is often comprised of inferior games and other limitations - while double the price of rivals' packages.
- With the current round of deals soon expiring, Disney has slowly been positioning itself to make a run at a better deal and could also target the popular “Sunday Ticket”.
- If Disney pursues it, the games would likely go to streaming service ESPN+, which thus far is seen mainly as an afterthought and a throw-in with the company’s larger bundles.
- That type of major acquisition would suddenly give Disney a second big streaming play and would align with the current direct-to-consumer path the company is heading down.
(Image Credit: ESPN)
Football remains one of the cash cow properties for all of the major linear networks, with each of the big four networks owning some stake in the sport. However, for Disney (DIS), its connection is tied to cable subsidiary ESPN, and to be blunt, many don’t think they are getting the return on investment they should be!
However, that could soon change, as Disney seems ready to supplement its newfound shift to streaming with a sports influx that could once again shake up the playing field. And with the company’s Investor Day coming up this week, don’t be surprised if this becomes part of the conversations.
First, as always though, some background.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football package costs roughly $2 million for a schedule that features less marquee games. On top of that, despite having the franchise, ESPN (and its sister network ABC) are not part of the Super Bowl rotation that includes NBC (CMCSA), CBS (VIAC) and Fox (FOX). That could potentially soon change, as while investors have seen Disney throw a few “Hail Mary” plays in their time, its newest one has the ability to be one of its biggest in a while.
The licenses for the NFL’s core franchises are all coming due around the same time, and it is going to be fun to watch how it all transpires. While the general assumption is nothing will change, never underestimate the House of Mouse.
