{"id":263720,"date":"2023-03-10T12:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T18:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=263720"},"modified":"2023-03-10T15:24:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T21:24:00","slug":"sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney CEO Bob Iger Sees \u2018Seamlessness\u2019 Between Sports Programming, Betting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) CEO Bob Iger said there are pathways for the entertainment behemoth to get involved in sports wagering, though he prefers a measured approach. They were his clearest comments on the subject since returning to the helm of the company,<\/p>\n

\"Disney
Disney CEO Bob Iger, seen above. He discussed sports betting at a recent industry conference. (Image: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking Thursday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Iger noted that Disney expanding its sports betting footprint is important, particularly when attracting young consumers.<\/p>\n

I mentioned earlier in another meeting I have two sons who are 24 and 20, and it\u2019s not just about fantasy sports, but they\u2019re interested in it,\u201d said Iger. \u201cAnd I prefer to wait as long as possible. But when I think about them, I think it\u2019s inevitable that there\u2019ll be basically a seamlessness between sports programming and sports betting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Iger, who previously served as Disney\u2019s CEO from 2005 to 2020, returned to that role<\/a> last November, replacing Bob Chapek. That stoked a flurry of speculation regarding the company\u2019s plans to expand or reduce its focus on sports wagering.<\/p>\n

ESPN Integral to Disney Sports Wagering Plans<\/h2>\n

At the Morgan Stanley conference, Iger acknowledged that sports wagering was a subject of interest for Chapek. Conversely, Hollywood and Wall Street widely believe that Iger is focusing on shoring up Disney\u2019s movie and streaming entertainment content and its theme park business before turning attention to smaller matters, such as sports betting.<\/p>\n

Still, Iger pointed out that Disney\u2019s ESPN<\/em> unit is the leading brand in sports broadcasting, ratings remain sturdy across that platform, and Disney sees value in sports.<\/p>\n

\n

In recent months, there\u2019s been speculation that Disney could spin off<\/a> the \u201cworldwide leader in sports,\u201d which would free up the sports media giant to more openly pursue sports wagering opportunities. Such a move wasn\u2019t favored by Chapek. However, analysts speculate that given Iger\u2019s preference for intellectual property and franchises such as Marvel — traits neither ABC <\/em>nor ESPN<\/em> possesses — the newly returned Disney boss could favor parting ways with the company\u2019s news operations, including sports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On the other hand — with more complex endeavors, such as improving movie content and making theme parks accessible to a broader swath of consumers high up on Iger\u2019s near-term agenda — complex transactions such as spinning out the media unit<\/a> could be delayed or not on the table at all.<\/p>\n

Iger said he\u2019s optimistic about ESPN<\/em> going forward but added he\u2019s “open-minded about its future.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

ESPN Sports Betting Avenues<\/h2>\n

Iger agrees with his predecessor that ESPN <\/em>\u00a0will not get into the business of directly accepting sports bets. But there are avenues the network can pursue to broaden its already significant sports wagering exposure.<\/p>\n

For example, some market observers believe the Disney unit could benefit from DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) potentially buying Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) from a marketing agreement with ESPN<\/em>. Both gaming companies struck similar accords with ESPN in 2020.<\/a> <\/em>But with Caesars looking to reduce spending, DraftKings might look to pounce and become the network\u2019s exclusive sportsbook partner.<\/p>\n

ESPN<\/em> has been mentioned as a possible buyer in what\u2019s expected to be an active year of consolidation activity in the regulated sports wagering space. But those rumors can likely be put to rest because of Iger\u2019s aforementioned full agenda of more critical issues.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) CEO Bob Iger said there are pathways for the entertainment behemoth to get involved in sports wagering, though he prefers a measured approach. They were his clearest comments on the subject since returning to the helm of the company, Speaking Thursday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Iger […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":244888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1,1074],"tags":[81903,81967,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSports Betting On Disney CEO Iger Radar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Disney CEO Iger sees sports betting opportunities, bullish on ESPN outlook.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sports Betting On Disney CEO Iger Radar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Disney CEO Iger sees sports betting opportunities, bullish on ESPN outlook.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-10T18:48:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-10T21:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/BI-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/\",\"name\":\"Sports Betting On Disney CEO Iger Radar\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/BI-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-10T18:48:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-10T21:24:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Disney CEO Iger sees sports betting opportunities, bullish on ESPN outlook.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-on-disney-ceo-iger-radar\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/BI-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/BI-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Disney CEO Bob Iger. 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