Why Football Matters to Disney
We all care more about Disney theme parks than Disney’s streaming services.
Realistically, for most of us, we spend much more time streaming than visiting the parks, though.
Cinderella Castle
From Disney’s perspective, the theme parks earn the most money, but there’s a hope for more.
In the long term, streaming will replace the fading Linear Networks division’s lost revenue.
Photo: ABC
To reach that goal, Disney must transition conventional viewers to streaming.
The numbers show that Disney, like everyone else, has a long way to go.
Photo: Getty Images/Ringer illustration
Here’s why football matters so much to Disney.
Football Season Matters
I spent the other night watching the first two games of the NBA season.
The fact that the NBA and NHL are playing real games underscores an important point.
Photo: ESPN
We’re well into the football season by now, with college games having started two months ago.
Those always impact the ratings a comically large amount, but they’re not the alpha in the room.
Photo: ESPN
No, that honor always belongs to the NFL, by far the most popular sport in America.
While the NFL lacks the global appeal of Premier League soccer, football reigns supreme here.
Photo: TamirMoore.com
We witness this in the data every season, as the NFL continues to do some astonishing stuff.
In early 2024, I mentioned that the Super Bowl’s ratings had matched those of the 1969 Moon Landing.
Peyton Manning and Phil Simms
That feat struck me as impossible in the modern era, yet the 2025 Super Bowl exceeded those numbers.
So, any Super Bowl appears more important to modern society than an inimitable historical feat.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes runs onto the field during team introductions prior to an NFL Divisional Playoff football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Sure, there has been some population growth over the past 56 years, but you get the point.
The latest monthly report from Nielsen’s The Gauge reinforces this strange reality.
Photo: ESPN
In July, 47.3 percent of all media consumption came in the form of streaming rather than conventional broadcasts.
That number fell 0.7 percent to 46.4 percent in August, a time when some football was being played.
Photo: Deadline
Now, the number has dropped even more to 45.2 percent, with Broadcast and Cable surging to 44.6 percent.
I mentioned a while ago that now that streaming was back on top, it would stay that way.
Photo: ESPN
This data almost proved me wrong in a matter of months, and football’s the entire explanation.
Despite how much we all love streaming, people primarily still watch football the old-fashioned way.
The ESPN App
The entire purpose of the ESPN over-the-top streaming app involves Disney changing consumer patterns.
When Disney introduced the app, it was simultaneously targeting two demographics.
Photo: Michael Vargo on LinkedIn
Disney wants the generation that’s all-in on streaming to grow addicted to ESPN once again.
That younger Gen Z demographic isn’t as All ESPN All the Time as the ones from previous decades.
Photo: Michael Vargo on LinkedIn
More importantly, Disney wants everyone 40 and above to switch to streaming.
Otherwise, the company must continue this multi-level marketing style that isn’t ideal.
Photo: ESPN
By its very nature, the current structure splits resources and focus from what should be a single purpose.
And that brings us back to football. Disney is trying to accelerate this behavioral conversion.
Photo: ESPN
To do that, Disney needs the ESPN app to succeed, preferably quickly. Is it doing that?
Well, the NFL helps, as 80 percent of Americans indicate they watch the sport.
Photo: ESPN
Disney has also caught a break in that college football viewing is up 21 percent through the first month.
So, that explains why the Broadcast/Cable viewing percentage is soaring. It’s almost all football.
Photo: ESPN
During the ESPN app’s first five weeks of availability, Antenna, a reporting firm, estimates 2.1 million sign-ups.
Notably, Disney was reportedly expecting only three to five million in its first year.
Photo: ESPN
The company will provide more context during its earnings report on November 13th.
Still, if the 2.1 million sign-ups total is accurate, everyone must be pleased.
Photo: ESPN
At $29.99 per subscription, that’s more than $60 million in monthly revenue Disney has added.
Over the course of a year, we’re talking about $720 million. Obviously, there are operational costs, but that’s a solid start.
Photo: Disney
These numbers should also explain why football matters so much to Disney.
If the app had launched outside of football season, it wouldn’t have done this well.
Nielsen Streaming Ratings
Disney had a strange week on the Nielsen Streaming charts, with one glaring absence.
Only Murders in the Building didn’t make the top ten in Originals, a potentially worrisome fact.
Photo: Hulu
To be fair, the #10 program, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, claimed 428 million viewer minutes.
That’s generally the range for Only Murders in the Building, so this could be a near-miss.
Photo: Disney
Alternatively, this could be an early warning signal that the bloom is off the rose. So, stay tuned.
Here are Disney’s Nielsen Streaming hits for the week:
- Bluey – 711 million viewer minutes
- NCIS – 666 million viewer minutes
- Doc – 657 million viewer minutes
- Law & Order – 643 million viewer minutes
- Bob’s Burgers – 619 million viewer minutes
- Grey’s Anatomy – 595 million viewer minutes
- Gilmore Girls – 573 million viewer minutes
- Family Guy – 570 million viewer minutes
- Elio – 350 million viewer minutes
- Lilo & Stitch (2025) – 157 million viewer minutes
Photo: Bluey
That’s a slightly better second-week number for Elio than I was braced for, but it’s still not good.
Similarly, Lilo & Stitch doesn’t seem to be sticking around as much as Inside Out 2 did last year.
Photo: Disney
On the bright side, I’m loving the sustained presence of Gilmore Girls, one of my favorite shows ever.
The internet suggests it’s the perfect Fall program, a statement I disagree with, as I consider it a Winter show.
Photo: Hulu
Still, I’m happy whenever anyone watches. The rest of these entries are mostly status quo.
Bluey did slip a bit this week, but I’ll dismiss it as statistical noise unless it becomes a trend.
Photo: Disney
Finally, Doc is the Fox/Hulu/Netflix series about the doctor recovering from amnesia.
This bump likely comes from its season premiere, but shows like this often overperform on streaming.
Photo: MickeyBlog
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