{"id":268705,"date":"2023-04-13T10:31:15","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T15:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=268705"},"modified":"2023-04-14T11:57:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T16:57:43","slug":"disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney CEO Bob Iger Lukewarm on Sports Betting"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his second stint as chief executive officer of ESPN<\/em> parent Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Bob Iger appears to accept sports betting is part of the equation for the broadcasting giant. But he wants to keep it at arm\u2019s length.<\/p>\n

\"Iger
Disney CEO Bob Iger (left). He’s mindful that sports betting could be helpful to ESPN<\/em> in some form. (Image: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a wide-ranging interview with Time\u2019s<\/em> Belinda Luscombe, which touched on issues such as Disney\u2019s content woes, the company\u2019s initiated feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), activist investors, and a potential buyout of Hulu. Iger said Disney isn\u2019t interested in direct gaming investments. Rather, he views sports wagering as an avenue for ESPN<\/em><\/a> to boost customer engagement.<\/p>\n

ESPN<\/em> 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,\u201d<\/strong> Iger told Time<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s somewhat standoffish relative to comments he made last month<\/a> at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. That’s where the Disney CEO said, \u201cI think it\u2019s inevitable that there\u2019ll be basically a seamlessness between sports programming and sports betting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iger Sounds Sort of Comfortable<\/h2>\n

Iger\u2019s successor turned predecessor, Bob Chapek, was more overt<\/a> in his acknowledgment of sports wagering and how it could play a role in ESPN\u2019s<\/em> future.<\/p>\n

\n

While there\u2019s speculation regarding Iger\u2019s role, if any, in Disney\u2019s board removing Chapek, whom Iger anointed as his successor, the two executives agree that sports betting cannot be a threat to Disney\u2019s brand and allegedly family-oriented values.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI was probably on the more conservative side about this for a long time. But I\u2019ve changed because I think the acceptance of sports betting has grown significantly,\u201d Iger told Time<\/em>. \u201c<\/em>And 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\u2019re not actually causing the bets to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iger said he doesn\u2019t see an issue with ESPN<\/em> linking to regulated sportsbooks, and ESPN+<\/em> isn\u2019t mentioned in the interview. That streaming platform saw its subscriber base nearly double over the past two years. But that\u2019s not helping Disney stock, as the shares were halved over that period.<\/p>\n

Disney Already Has Modest Gaming Investment<\/h2>\n

Time<\/em> mentions a financial relationship between ESPN<\/em> and DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG). But that comes by way of a 6% stake<\/a> in the gaming company Disney inherited via its $71.3 billion takeover of 21st<\/sup> Century Fox, which drew criticism from at least one activist investor. Iger was CEO at that the time of that deal.<\/p>\n

Currently, Disney is essentially a passive investor in DraftKings. Iger didn\u2019t mention plans Disney has, if any, for its slice of the sportsbook operator.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He also didn’t comment on the possibility of ESPN<\/em> making a sports betting acquisition or a multibillion-dollar partnership deal with a sportsbook — two old rumors that never came to fruition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his second stint as chief executive officer of ESPN parent Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Bob Iger appears to accept sports betting is part of the equation for the broadcasting giant. But he wants to keep it at arm\u2019s length. In a wide-ranging interview with Time\u2019s Belinda Luscombe, which touched on issues such as Disney\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":248980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,33810,1074],"tags":[81903,81898,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDisney CEO Iger Somewhat Tepid On Sports Betting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Disney CEO Iger displays reluctant embrace of sports betting.\" \/>\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\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disney CEO Iger Somewhat Tepid On Sports Betting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Disney CEO Iger displays reluctant embrace of sports betting.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/\" \/>\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=\"2023-04-13T15:31:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-14T16:57:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/BI-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1691\" \/>\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\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/\",\"name\":\"Disney CEO Iger Somewhat Tepid On Sports Betting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/BI-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-13T15:31:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-14T16:57:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Disney CEO Iger displays reluctant embrace of sports betting.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/disney-ceo-iger-somewhat-tepid-on-sports-betting\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/BI-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/BI-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1691,\"caption\":\"Disney CEO Bob Iger (left). 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