Disney Headlines for June 4th, 2024
This week, we’ve got political donations, political favors, and some sour grapes.
I’m gonna try super-hard to be neutral with the latest batch of Disney Headlines because minefields abound.
Back in the Game
When The Walt Disney Company announced it would stop political donations in Florida, everyone understood the implied asterisk.
Disney wasn’t about to fund anyone who might vote against the company’s control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Alas, the heavily gerrymandered composition of the Florida government didn’t leave the Mouse with many options.
Should Disney fund the opposing party, it’d face even more legal ramifications beyond the ones that happened.
As a reminder, the big one was the state of Florida taking control of what we now call the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD).
Virtually all of the legislators involved with that process had similarly supported the so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation.
So, Disney could have picked the people without political power or the ones that were making legal threats against it.
Understandably, Disney chose not to play either of those losing hands, choosing to sit out the entire 2022 election.
The Florida politicians bristled at this, as Disney’s in-kind contributions are the gold standard in politics.
Still, Disney knew it wouldn’t gain anything of value with its 2022 lobbying efforts.
Recently, the ice thawed between Disney and Florida’s ruling government. Now, the inevitable has happened.
Disney won’t sit out the 2024 election, as it needs to lobby more.
In truth, we’ve likely already seen the ramifications of a behind-closed-doors negotiation to thaw the ice.
Disney World has forged an agreement with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to spend up to $17 billion on park expansion.
Realistically, that deal probably doesn’t happen unless Disney has promised to start contributing to campaigns.
That’s apparently what has happened, as Justin Hermes reported the other day.
The Perils of Playing Both Sides
Disney finds itself in a nightmarish position as it prepares to donate to other campaigns.
This whole thing started due to the company’s opposition to the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill.
While the teeth of that bill didn’t hold up, it remains on the records, as do the public votes of its supporters.
Meanwhile, the political climate hasn’t changed in Florida, leaving Disney in a shark pit with the people who stripped it of Reedy Creek.
So, there’s no good outcome here, which is the harsh reality of politics on many occasions.
Disney handled the situation as best it could, donating to a Central Florida politician who opposed Don’t Say Gay.
Alas, Disney has no choice but to play both sides here, as the other political party holds much of the power at the moment.
And that reality led to this revelation from Scott Maxwell, my favorite writer/reporter in Florida.
And now it's official that @Disney is back to donating to Republicans as well – including those who voted for the very "Don't Say Gay"/"Parental Rights" that allegedly offended the company's sensibilities.
This one to Rep. Josie Tomkow's PC. https://t.co/JNdNURCGXm pic.twitter.com/SQe7op3YWe
— Scott Maxwell (@Scott_Maxwell) May 30, 2024
Yes, after everything that went down with the Don’t Say Gay bill, Disney has just provided in-kind contributions to someone who voted for it.
Spoiler: there will be more of this. If Disney wants to lobby effectively, it must deal with the people who hold the votes.
Unfortunately, this whole thing feels like a ticking bomb, given recent national political events and the fact that Pride month started days later.
According to Axios, Disney had recently increased its political reputation.
Now, that’s likely to change, as someone will pick up this story and denigrate Disney for doing what everyone always expected it to do.
So, here we are, hoping that this story blows over without anybody noticing so we can stop talking politics on Disney sites.
Why Disney Did This
Is the juice worth the squeeze? That’s the debate Bob Iger and his staff just had about Florida politics.
Ultimately, Disney decided it was, and fans will tangibly benefit from this decision.
As linked above and previously reported, Disney and the CFTOD have kissed and made up.
That’s the least likely reunion in recent memory, and I’m saying that as someone who watched Anyone But You the other day.
Anyway, the stupidity of that film’s plot aside, Disney went back to lobbying for political favors for good reason.
Park officials want to spend $10+ billion at Walt Disney World soon, and they need the CFTOD’s approval to do that.
I’ll resist all temptation to speculate on the inner workings of this agreement and instead state that optics aside, Disney made the right call.
At some point, the company needed to act like the adult in the room and broker a deal.
Disney World has evolved into the most popular paid tourist destination of its kind on the planet. It needs to thrive.
Theme park expansion is the obvious way to guarantee that growth.
None of this would have been possible without the CFTOD’s vote, and similar situations will occur in Florida.
As such, Disney needed to rip off the bandage so that the fans would get new attractions, themed lands, and maybe even a fifth gate.
I haven’t had a chance to read all the paperwork yet, but everything I’ve seen favors Disney.
Effectively, the two parties have copied the DisneylandForward agreement, a winning proposition for Disney.
Don’t Let the Door Hit You…
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the end of the latest Nelson Peltz nonsense.
Think about the celebrity you dislike the most on the planet. Now, you have a good idea of how I feel about Peltz.
Not coincidentally, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of Peltz interfering with Disney ops.
Last year, we wrote a story about how Peltz had bought back Disney stock.
That’s his strategy here as a hit-and-run activist investor. He likes to buy at a set price, cause problems, and then sell at a much higher price.
According to Peltz himself, he earned $1 billion by agitating Disney for six months.
That’s a good con, and it’s repeatable. Yes, Peltz faced headlines like “Nelson Peltz got crushed by Disney. Can He Recover?”
Still, would you care about negative headlines if you earned $1 billion in the process?
Disney stock hovered around $120 on the day of the Peltz vote, and that’s when he claims he sold.
Last Friday, Disney stock closed at $103.91. While I have no reason to believe it’ll drop significantly, I’m sure Peltz is watching.
Should the stock go in the tank again, he’ll be back. And this time, he’ll say, “I told you so!”
Do I think that will happen? Honestly, no. However, it has (more or less) happened for two straight years.
So, here’s hoping Disney changes the locks on the door or something.
I cannot spend another year of my life talking about this guy.
Have a great week, everyone!
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