Bob Iger Talks Sports Gambling and ESPN Bet
The Walt Disney Company shocked not only the gambling industry but Wall Street yesterday when they announced that reached a new $2 billion deal with PENN Entertainment to create the ESPN BET sportsbook.
The new sportsbook will not only mark the worldwide leader in sports’ first real foray into the multi-billion dollar sports gambling industry, but it will also associate the family-friendly Disney brand with the sphere.
Photo: CNBC
Iger Had Been Against Entering The Sports Betting Industry
Just four years ago, the idea that Disney and ESPN would get involved in sports gambling seemed impossible.
In 2019, Iger seemed adamant that, despite covering sports from a gambling perspective, the network would not get “into the business of gambling.”
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“I don’t see The Walt Disney Company, certainly in the near term, getting involved in the business of gambling, in effect, by facilitating gambling in any way,” he said.
“I do think that there’s plenty of room, and ESPN has done some of this already and they may do more to provide information in coverage of sports, as a for instance, that would be relevant to and of particular interest to gambling and not be shy about it, basically being fairly overt about it. But getting into the business of gambling, I rather doubt it.”
Photo: Yahoo Sports
Changing Attitudes
Upon his 2022 return to the company, however, Iger began to change his tune. As attitudes towards sports gambling continued to change and the industry became accepted by mainstream America, Iger admitted that he was more open to seeing ESPN enter the sphere.
“I was probably on the more conservative side about this for a long time,” he said. “But I’ve changed because I think the acceptance of sports betting has grown significantly. 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’re not actually causing the bets to be made. We’re just enabling people to link to companies that do that. I don’t think it’s an issue.”
As more and more ESPN programming became dedicated to sports gambling, and the industry began to become even more accepted, many observers saw a foray into gambling as a way to bolster the struggling network.
The question remained, could Disney square away their family values with a vested interest in sports gambling?
Photo: ESPN
Iger Announces ESPN BET
Yesterday’s announcement answered a resounding yes to that question. By partnering with PENN to create ESPN BET, the brand is throwing its lot in with sports gambling, even if they are not the ones accepting bets themselves.
Photo: DIsney+
On today’s quarter-three earnings call Iger told investors that ESPN BET would help the network cater to what fans want, specifically younger fans. Additionally, when it comes to partnering with Penn, Iger revealed that the company was the most aggressive.
“We believe there’s an opportunity here to significantly grow engagement with ESPN consumers, particularly young consumers,” Iger said.
“We’ve been in discussion with a number of entities for a fairly long period of time … Penn stepped up in an aggressive way and made an offer to us better than any of the competitors by far.”
Additionally, Iger noted that he was impressed by Penn’s plan to use ESPN to improve their own gambling enterprise.
Photo: Masterclass
Whether or not sports gambling can keep ESPN afloat, one thing is clear, the launch of ESPN BET marks the advent of a new era for the worldwide leader in sports.
Credit: ESPN
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