Disney Headlines for January 19th, 2024
Wait, did the NFL just buy part of ESPN? And what’s the deal with Pat McAfee? And what’s a Norby?
This week’s Disney Headlines underscore the precarious state of the Worldwide Leader in Sports. ESPN has issues, folks.
Bob Iger May Have Gotten His Deal?
MickeyBlog has spent the past 18 months chronicling the weirdness of IPL Cricket and how much it concerns Disney.
The TL:DR is that Disney couldn’t afford to renew its streaming rights to IPL Cricket.
A calculated billionaire decided that he was willing to burn $3 billion so that his company gained those rights instead.
In the ultimate example of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” Disney is currently merging its India operations with that company.
While Disney dislikes this setback in India, it’ll ultimately be fine and may have even improved its position on the subcontinent.
However, the doomsday scenario is clearer than ever. A company like Apple, Google, or Amazon could do the same in America.
Should that happen, ESPN could lose the streaming license to the NBA or NFL, either of which would prove devastating.
ESPN needs that content to sustain, and Disney needs it for marketing purposes.
All those live sports viewers buy Disney products. It’s fertile advertising ground.
This scenario already somewhat occurred when Google threw $2 billion at the NFL in exchange for the coveted NFL Sunday Ticket license.
Many analysts (including me) felt Disney was the likeliest fit.
After all, the NFL had made no secret of its desire for ESPN to join forces with NFL Media.
That’s the combination of NFL+, the NFL Network, and other football assets.
If Disney controlled the NFL Network, it could persuade cable companies to pay higher carriage fees for the network.
Alas, the timing of the negotiations proved unfortunate for Disney, which was in belt-tightening mode then.
Disney couldn’t feasibly perform hundreds of ESPN layoffs and then bid billions for NFL Sunday Ticket…but hold that thought for a minute.
The Proposed Deal
When Bob Iger returned, he reevaluated many of Disney’s most prized assets.
During this bit of self-criticism, Iger noted the precarious position of ESPN.
Disney’s CEO also recognized a straightforward solution. The company could incentivize the major sports networks.
Realistically, as much as I adore baseball – Hank Aaron superfan here – the NFL and NBA licenses matter the most.
Iger quietly negotiated with these leagues to cut a deal. If Iger got his way, the NFL and NBA would take a stake in ESPN.
In exchange, ESPN would hype those products the most, which they were realistically gonna do anyway.
So, the sports leagues understandably questioned what they were getting from the deal.
Thus far, nobody has bitten on the proposal, even though Disney teased the possibility in mid-2023.
Well, that may have changed. Recent reports suggest that the NFL and Disney are in advanced negotiations.
Should a deal occur, the NFL would accept an ownership stake in ESPN in exchange for ESPN taking over the operations of NFL Media.
This is the rare agreement that would benefit both parties, as it would ensure that the NFL always gave ESPN some form of licensing rights.
Otherwise, the NFL would be damaging one of its own assets.
As Justin Hermes discussed, there are potential flaws with the idea. But it makes enough sense that I expect it to happen.
Ordinarily, this would be THE Disney Headline of the week…but not this week.
Influencer Culture
Some of you reading this are old enough to remember how much trouble Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick experienced.
The two most iconic SportsCenter anchors ever both struggled with the demands made by their higher-ups at ESPN.
Not coincidentally, both have left the company. In Olbermann’s case, he has come and gone several times.
More recently, anchors like Jemele Hill and Dan LeBatard faced intense scrutiny and ultimately decided to leave ESPN.
The recurring theme throughout these encounters was that no single talent stood above ESPN itself.
Importantly, all four of these individuals have experienced tremendous success after leaving ESPN.
Their appearances on popular sports programs almost accidentally turned them into high-profile celebrities.
LeBatard, in particular, has monetized his laid-back style with a venture called Meadowlark Media.
Basically, the dude broadcasts from his home office rather than ESPN but somehow makes more money than ever.
The Pat McAfee Debacle
That reality of the influencer era brings us to Pat McAfee, who was a wildly popular podcaster before Disney ever hired him.
Technically, McAfee maintains his previous setup, but ESPN broadcasts it as a livestream on YouTube, TikTok, and the network itself.
McAfee was always a bit of a wildcard as a punter who grew more famous by briefly appearing as a WWE wrestler.
McAfee deftly leveraged his friendships with other NFL players, ones more useful than punters, into a mainstream empire.
His most famous buddy is Aaron Rodgers, who has a penchant for saying some truly outlandish stuff.
Rodgers often confuses opinions with facts, but McAfee isn’t about to correct his more famous friend.
This caused recent issues when Rodgers randomly attacked Jimmy Kimmel with slanderous accusations.
These comments occurred live on ESPN, a Disney subsidiary, against Kimmel, the co-host of a different, even more valuable Disney property.
Kimmel proceeded to retaliate in vicious fashion, which caused Rodgers to non-apologize.
Caught in the middle, McAfee promised that the New York Jets quarterback wouldn’t appear on the air for the rest of the year.
That promise lasted 24 hours due to the firing of Bill Belichick as the Head Coach of the New England Patriots.
As a noted adversary, Rodgers held value in that moment, but the quick flip-flip underscored Disney’s dilemma with McAfee.
The podcast host not only failed to act apologetic about what his guest said, which legitimately fit the legal definition of slander.
McAfee also called out Norby Williamson, the longtime ESPN executive whose job is basically to keep the talent in check.
So, how can ESPN control or discipline the person who just randomly attacked the disciplinarian?
Did you see that video of the felon who attacked the judge in court? It’s the media equivalent of that.
ESPN’s Lousy Options
Pat McAfee will do just fine without his cushy ESPN gig.
In fact, he might do even better since he can claim he’s too hot for Disney.
Bob Iger personally spoke with McAfee about joining ESPN. The CEO envisioned McAfee appealing to a younger demographic.
ESPN needs that core audience, one that hasn’t been indoctrinated to love ESPN.
In the process, Disney showed some willingness to take a few hits in exchange for those new, younger viewers.
However, what just happened is legitimately beyond the pale.
ESPN won’t launch its fully over-the-top ESPN digital service until 2025.
Iger had hoped that McAfee could last that long before the relationship inevitably soured.
Right now, I’m not even sure next month is a given!
As things stand, former ESPN talents have lined up to express their longstanding grievances with Norby Williamson.
So, the next step here probably involves that dude taking a new job or just retiring. It’s the easy short-term solution.
Should that happen, it creates another problem, though.
McAfee may feel even more impervious if he can force out ESPN’s legendary enforcer.
Karma Police
A lot of different scenarios are in play here, and none of them end well for ESPN/Disney.
Even worse, the timing of all this couldn’t be worse as Disney engages in tricky negotiations with the NFL.
Disney and ESPN have a Pat McAfee problem, and it’ll probably get worse before it gets better.
Circling back to the earlier point, Disney is getting hit by karma here. It cut an $85 million deal with McAfee.
This happened in May 2023, the time when Disney was performing its third round of layoffs.
Why oh why did Disney choose Pat McAfee to break the bank when it couldn’t afford the people it already had?
Nothing good has come of this move.
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Feature Photo: The New York Post