For decades, we’ve heard about Walt Disney being one of the biggest kids and family entertainment companies in the world. Whether that means the best of animated and family movies, or the most enthralling theme parks across the world, Disney has provided it all. However, they’re deciding now to foray into an industry they’ve wagered on before, and that’s the sports betting industry.
For anyone who has even the slightest of business aptitudes, you’d know that gambling and sports betting across the world is heating up now. Probably the biggest unregulated market across the globe, sports betting was even legalised in USA in May 2018 and since then, individual states have been applying for licenses to provide for online and live sports betting options in their respective regions.
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The Walt Disney Company has always been a highly respected brand and they’re making a big bet by foraying into an industry that has always been considered a ‘vice’. Their CEO Bob Chapek hinted in September 2021 at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference about their intentions to introduce sports betting to their leading sports platform, ESPN.
“Strategically, what sports betting gives us is the ability to appeal to a much younger sports fan viewer, who can be very strong in their affinity for those sports,” said the 61-year old Chapek who took over from Bob Iger last year. Disney owns ESPN and the latter also works in association with DraftKings, which Disney gained a stake in after acquiring 21st Century Fox in 2019.
In August 2021, a report in WSJ suggested that Disney was looking to license its ESPN brand to casino operator Caesars Entertainment along with DraftKings, which you can read here. Undoubtedly, the first choice for millions of sports fans across the world, having an ESPN-licensed sportsbook could change the way we look at sports, and could be a massive revenue generator for Disney as well.
“We know that it represents very little risk to the company and very little risk to ESPN. I think there’s a long way between (being) embedded into the ESPN business model and licensing out, right, there’s a lot of room between there,” said Chapek to investors in April 2021. For similar sports betting and entertainment news from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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