Disney CEO Bob Iger Comments on New ESPN Sports Betting Service

Disney4me · August 9, 2023

The Walt Disney Company‘s third-quarter earnings call answered a LOT of questions and addressed several important topics regarding the future of the company. One of the topics on many people’s minds lately has been the announcement that Disney may be diving deeper into the world of sports betting with the launch of ESPN BET.

ESPN Wide World of Sports

Now, we’ve learned more about ESPN BET and what Disney CEO Bob Iger has planned. Let’s dive in.

First, let’s go over a little history. During the era when Bob Chapek was CEO of The Walt Disney Company, sports betting was one of Chapek’s money-making priorities. Then when current CEO Bob Iger took over, it appeared that Iger wasn’t as interested in sports betting as his predecessor. In fact, when asked if Disney had any plans to invest in the business of gambling, Iger said, “I rather doubt it.”

Disney-CEO-Bob-Iger-wwdc-23-keynote-appl

©Apple

Over time, Iger began to make more references to suggest sports betting may be an option for Disney. He stated that the idea of getting into sports betting was “inevitable that they’ll be a…basically, a seamlessness between sports programming and sports betting.”

©ESPN

More recently, ESPN announced a new agreement with PENN Entertainment to launch ESPN BET, which is a “branded sportsbook for fans in the United States.” Now, it seems Disney is prepared to dive deeper into sports betting.

©Disney

During The Walt Disney Company’s third-quarter earnings call for fiscal year 2023 on August 9th, Disney CEO Bob Iger shared more comments on ESPN BET. Iger was asked why Disney chose NOW to launch ESPN BET and the vision behind the platform, and he responded that entering the world of sports betting has been in discussion among the company for quite some time.

He continued that a large appeal for getting into sports betting was the potential for growing engagement with young customers. Apparently, PENN made an “aggressive offer” that was better than the other offers Disney had received. Iger said, “We believe and trust in their ability to grow this partnership.”

We’ll be looking out for more news on the new sports betting service. In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.