Disney Headlines for January 7th, 2025
Less than one week into 2025, Disney already bought a business. Buckle up, folks! This year’s gonna be a wild ride.
Let’s talk Universal Studios and Fubo in the first Disney Headlines of 2025.
I’m an Idiot
I just spent two weeks of my life recapping 2024 in a series of MickeyBlog articles.
You can read all of them in my archive, but I’ll level with you that I’ve edited some stories that haven’t gone live yet.
Photo: Fox
I had to do this because I missed the obvious, and I’m kicking myself over it.
In several articles, I mentioned the odd feud between The Walt Disney Company, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Photo: Playbuzz.com
Perhaps the oddest part of this feud is that all three of them were on the same side. Their opponent was FuboTV.
Whenever I say that, many people naturally wonder, “What’s FuboTV?” Fair question.
Photo: Pexel.com
As society transitions away from the cable channels of old to streaming, some consumers are slowly weaning off the outdated products.
These folks aren’t quite ready to cut the cord yet. So, some enterprising businesses created the so-called skinny bundle.
Families Streaming Disney+
These services, like YouTube TV, offer an improved version of cable television via streaming.
Viewers watch channels like TNT, TBS, and CNN via streaming rather than coaxial cable. It’s the same idea done better.
Photo: Getty
FuboTV sells that product…poorly. The company had a market cap of $440 million all last month when I was writing about it.
But FuboTV apparently has enough money to afford very good lawyers.
Photo:ofx.ie
I say this because FuboTV sued Fox, Disney, and WBD in court and won. Multiple times.
When March Madness arrives, that’s the equivalent of a #16 seed beating Cooper Flagg and Duke. It shouldn’t be possible, and yet it happened.
Image: The Wall Street Journal
Now, Disney has come up with an obvious solution. Disney bought the MUCH smaller company.
And I’m a complete idiot because I wrote about this story multiple times but never once thought, “Oh, that’s what they should do!”
Why Disney Bought Fubo
(Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Since you probably don’t know what Fubo is, this story isn’t a big deal to you, but it has several significant ramifications.
With a new Presidential administration entering the White House, the belief is that many business regulations will be relaxed.
(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
For companies like Disney, this change allows more conversations about mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
This Fubo deal IS an M&A transaction…and a very good one for Disney.
Photo: vecteezy.com
As one of my podcast partners pointed out, Disney bought 70 percent of a $440 million company for $220 million.
Basically, Disney got 70 percent of the company for 50 percent of the price.
Photo:Disneycoupon.jpg
Then, the stock market instantly rewarded Disney by quadrupling Fubo’s stock price once the deal was announced.
In simplest terms, Disney paid $220 million for control of something that is now worth $1.7 billion.
Photo: Wikimedia
So, Disney’s 2024 hot streak has already carried over into 2025. But there’s still more to the story.
Disney also just proved that it’s continuing its 2024 practice of solving problems tidily behind the scenes rather than publicly.
Photo: History.com
That’s a big deal for those of us who suffered through the chaos of 2020-2023.
Wall Street very much wants Disney to remain above the fray, as the company’s stock increases when this happens.
Photo: cba.cj
Now, Disney has the Fubo asset and a dropped lawsuit. The latter aspect allows Venu TV to launch whenever Disney wants.
Just this past weekend, that seemed impossible due to legal gridlock.
AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
Another subplot here is that Disney sent a message to companies like Fubo that it’s not the enemy.
In a way, Disney just saved Fubo, which was a dead company walking. The $1 stock price reflected this fact until Disney bought it.
Disney could have bullied Fubo into oblivion but found a kinder, more lucrative solution. Everybody wins.
Can Everybody Win?
The “everybody wins” statement works a nice segue into the other big story at the start of 2025. The Epic year is here.
In four months, Universal Epic Universe debuts at Universal Orlando Resort.
Photo: Universal
As the news cycle switches to 2025 stories, sites like Business Insider are starting to talk up the Theme Park Wars of 2025.
I’ve been talking about this for a couple of years now, and I know that Disney CEO Bob Iger believes he’s done enough already.
Disney vs Epic Universe
Rather than adding a fifth gate right now, Disney will employ a layered strategy to add new expansion experiences each year.
Executives believe that the introduction of a new Central Florida theme park will boost Disney’s attendance.
Photo: Universal
Notably, historical data suggests this belief is correct. Then again, past performance isn’t indicative of future results.
Of course, Disney also already knows its May and June theme park presales. So, it has the data suggesting it’ll be okay.
Photo:visitorlando.com
Some would argue that Disney is offering a VERY good discount for Disney World visits this summer.
However, Disney published nearly the same deal a year ago. You could argue it’s 40 percent rather than 35 percent now.
Photo: Universal
In that scenario, the extra five percent may be the looming threat of Epic Universe, but I don’t even buy that.
Here’s the same deal for December 2023. In short, Disney IS taking a business-as-usual approach at the parks.
Photo: orlandoattractions.com
I find that fascinating and will enjoy watching the story unfold in 2025.
Let’s be honest that this is the biggest theme park story of the year and, quite honestly, the past decade, other than the pandemic stuff.
Holiday Cookie Popcorn
So, let’s all grab some popcorn and decide whether everyone really can win.
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