Disney Headlines for February 25th, 2025
Major League Baseball just broke up with The Walt Disney Company as publicly as possible.
Also, Disney Springs leveled up, a Senator questioned the FuboTV deal, and the film studio poached an executive from a flagging competitor.
Photo: Disney
This was quite the diverse week of Disney Headlines. Let’s unpack the weirdness.
And the Horse You Rode in On…
On my media podcast, Streaming into the Void, we sometimes discuss MLB’s continued struggles with new media.
Baseball’s arcane licensing rights have infuriated pretty much everyone, especially me, a huge baseball fan.
Photo: Wikipedia
I currently subscribe to every major streaming service, YouTube TV, and MLB.TV.
And here’s the absurdity of my life. I cannot watch my beloved Atlanta Braves most of the time.
Photo: Major League Baseball
Instead, I must wait until 90 minutes after the game finishes due to local blackout rules, which inexplicably impact me in a different state.
Disney shares some blame in this because when the company acquired Fox’s assets, it picked up regional sports networks.
Photo: Major League Baseball
These RSNs held local broadcast rights to professional sports teams like Atlanta.
Disney sold these RSNs to Sinclair in a deal that tanked the company, forcing a spinoff to Diamond Sports.
Photo: Diamond
Eventually, Diamond declared bankruptcy after shaming itself so badly the company rebranded itself as Main Street Sports Group.
This is the media equivalent of entering the witness protection program.
Photo: Diamond
That’s partially why baseball commissioner Rob Manfred isn’t a fan of Disney or its flagship channel, ESPN.
Disney put MLB in this mess, and now ESPN barely even acknowledges a sport it currently licenses.
Baseball Pool – All-Star Sports
ESPN canceled the signature daily show, Baseball Tonight, in 2017 and barely references baseball on its various talk shows.
Since ESPN and MLB are technically business partners, you can understand why that would frustrate Manfred.
Photo: Major League Baseball
Well, the two parties don’t need to speak much longer, as they’re divorcing soon.
It’s Not You, It’s Me
Last Thursday, the story broke on The Athletic that ESPN and MLB will end their business agreement after this season.
Manfred wrote a rather scathing indictment of ESPN in a message to the league’s owners. Here’s are some highlights:
ESPN
“(We have) not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage.”
“We do not think it’s beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform…”
Photo: ESPN
“(We) do not believe that Pay TV, ESPN’s primary distribution platform, is the future of video distribution or the best platform for our content.
As of December 2024, ESPN was available in 53.6M homes, down from its peak of over 100M homes in 2011 and 69M homes when we struck the current deal in 2021.”
Photo: ESPN
And yes, Manfred thinks ESPN’s butt looks big in those jeans. Seriously, this attack was so savage that Kendrick Lamar nodded in approval.
Hilariously, ESPN and Manfred’s statements both indicated that they’re considering working together again.
Disney
Based on the aggressive tone of this reply, this strikes me as unlikely.
Someone should only write something this dismissive if they believe they already have a different suitor lined up.
NEW runDisney Collection in Marketplace Co-Op
So, for the first time in 35 years, the business relationship between MLB and ESPN appears to be in jeopardy. Or ended.
Right now, I expect the latter, as I see no positives in making this statement public if Manfred believes he’ll later kiss and make up with ESPN.
Photo: D23
This tone is much closer to, “We should see other people. In fact, I already am.”
Max Level
For a longtime Final Fantasy fan like me, there’s no happier phrase than Level 99.
In gaming terms, it’s typically the maximum level a character can attain. When you’re Level 99, the bosses are terrified of you.
Photo: mentalfloss.com
That’s why I love any company that names itself LEVEL99. These are my people, and they’re coming to Disney Springs!
For those of you unfamiliar with LEVEL99 – and I was until last week – it’s a new form of interactive entertainment. Imagine a big building full of competitive games, and you get the gist.
Here’s a clip:
In a way, it’s like an evolved form of an escape room…or a really good gym.
To Disney Springs fans, the style seems a bit familiar, though. Doesn’t that look like a modern take on DisneyQuest?
Photo: Level99
Well, in a remarkable coincidence, LEVEL99 and Disney confirmed the location of the new Disney Springs facility.
LEVEL99 will reside in the former DisneyQuest/NBA Experience building.
NBA Experience
You may recall the slow death of DisneyQuest, a place I loved that was usually empty.
Disney replaced it with a tribute to a business partner, the NBA, which probably made MLB jealous.
Photo: Orlando Informer
Anyway, NBA Experience opened to little fanfare and was going to die a quick death with or without the pandemic.
Since then, Disney has tested the space with some unique offerings like a Star Wars augmented reality experience.
Photo: Disney
Now, we’ll come full circle when a company offering DisneyQuest-esque games opens in the former DisneyQuest building.
Notably, LEVEL99 only hosts two locations right now. So, it’s taking a huge risk here.
Photo: Level99
Will the gamble pay off? Stay tuned. Either way, it’ll be nice to see this space being used again.
More Fubo Nonsense
Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Department of Justice to investigate Disney’s unique agreement with FuboTV.
Ordinarily, this news would sound some alarms, but it’s a huge nothingburger at this particular moment in time.
Photo: Fubo
Warren asking the new DOJ to investigate something is like me asking Rob Manfred to break up the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He’d never even hear me, just like this particular DOJ is never going to take Elizabeth Warren’s calls.
Photo: Deadline
Politics are a tricky mistress in the best of times, and Disney’s in a precarious position with the current administration.
In this particular instance, the company catches a break here, though, as Warren’s request is likely to fall on deaf ears.
A New Name to Know
This past week, we also had the fascinating coup of Disney hiring Daria Cercek from Paramount Pictures.
Generally, this story goes the other way with Disney, as competitors try to poach the top studio’s talent.
Photo: Showbiz Cheat Sheet
A fairly recent example was Kelly Campbell leaving Hulu to become President of Peacock, a move that didn’t pay off for her.
With Cercek, Disney caught a huge break in that Paramount is in shambles right now.
The studio is desperately trying to survive long enough for Skydance to take over, but the FCC has yet to approve the merger.
Paramount currently has the weirdest leadership structure I’ve ever seen, which is really saying something.
Photo: Paramount
There are three Co-CEOS, one of whom is former child actor Brian Robbins.
In this instance, Robbins appears to have looked out for the upwardly mobile Cercek by securing her a soft landing at Disney.
Photo: Paramount
Since Paramount’s structure could collapse at any time, causing immediate layoffs, Cercek has fallen upward at Disney.
Meanwhile, your favorite company gains a rising star from a competitor.
Photo: Deadline
I mention this because the Co-Chairmen of Disney Entertainment, Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, could either exit or earn promotions.
In either scenario, Cercek becomes a viable candidate for that job, although I suspect David Greenbaum, her boss, is the favorite.
Photo: Variety
Still, Cercek is one to watch at Disney over the next few years, just as Walden was in 2019.
That was another instance where the CEO of a company secured a landing spot for a rising exec. So, the women’s careers parallel.
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