{"id":1980261,"date":"2023-07-22T11:38:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T15:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desperate-disney-reached-out-to-3-major-companies-to-dump-some-of-espn\/"},"modified":"2023-07-22T11:40:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T15:40:41","slug":"desperate-disney-reached-out-to-3-major-companies-to-dump-some-of-espn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desperate-disney-reached-out-to-3-major-companies-to-dump-some-of-espn\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney desperately contacted three major companies to offload some of ESPN."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdesperate-disney-reached-out-to-3-major-companies-to-dump-some-of-espn%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1980261&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Desperate Disney Reached Out to 3 Major Companies to Dump Some of ESPN<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s how \u2062desperate Disney is to milk whatever cash it can out of its own cows: The \u200bHouse of Mouse is now shopping shares\u200b of ESPN around to three of the \u2063sports leagues it\u200c covers.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/07\/21\/espn-had-talks-with-nba-nfl-in-search-for-strategic-partner.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNBC<\/a>, Disney\u2019s sports division\u2064 has been\u2064 holding\u2064 talks\u2063 on \u201cstrategic \u2064partnerships\u201d with Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/nfl-crawls-bed-lgbt-radicals-deserve-0-17-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Football League<\/a> to see if \u2064any of the three major\u200d leagues might be willing to come\u2063 on as minority\u200d investors.<\/p>\n<p>The NBA seemed to confirm that discussions\u200c have \u2063taken place: \u201cWe have a longstanding relationship\u200b with Disney and look forward to continuing the discussions around the \u200cfuture of our partnership,\u201d the league said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>MLB and the \u200bNFL declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month,\u200b Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that \u2063the company was looking to offload businesses that \u201cmay \u2062not \u200dbe core to Disney,\u201d including traditional TV businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Lo and behold,\u2063 sports\u200b programming \u2063definitely falls under that aegis. \u200cDisney currently owns 80 percent of the sports broadcasting giant and recently fired scads of on-air talent as \u2062part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/no-sacred-cows-woke-espn-reportedly-dumping-20-major-air-talents-latest-round-layoffs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">its move to slash costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Today \u200bI \u2062join the many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-sacred-cows-woke-espn-reportedly-dumping-20-major-on-air-talents-in-latest-round-of-layoffs\/\" title=\"'No Sacred Cows': ESPN Reportedly Axing 20 Top On-Air Talents in Latest Layoffs\">hard-working colleagues<\/a> \u200dwho have been \u2062laid off.<\/p>\n<p>Heartbreaking-but 27 years at ESPN was a\u200d good run.<\/p>\n<p>So grateful for a 38 yr career!<\/p>\n<p>Longevity for a woman in this business is something\u2062 I\u2019m especially proud \u200bof.<\/p>\n<p>Next step- a\u200b project that gives back.  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/URitozP0LQ\">pic.twitter.com\/URitozP0LQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Suzy Kolber (@SuzyKolber) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SuzyKolber\/status\/1674825386050437130?\">June 30, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOur position in sports\u200d is very unique and we want \u2062to stay in that\u200b business,\u201d Iger said in an interview\u2063 on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/07\/13\/disney-ceo-iger-opens-door-to-unloading-tv-assets.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July \u200d13<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going\u200c to be open minded about looking for strategic partners that\u200d could\u200b either\u2063 help us with distribution or content. I\u2019m \u200dnot going to \u2062get too detailed about it, but we\u2019re bullish about sports \u2064as a media property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the\u200b media giant is looking to cut thousands of jobs and billions \u2063in spending due to weak performance from its\u200c core businesses of\u2063 film and streaming revenues, \u200calong with its theme parks.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, much of brand\u2019s \u200dissues this\u200b could be attributed to Disney\u2019s wokeness.<\/p>\n<p>From needlessly sticking LGBT characters in kids\u2019 \u200bmovies (two\u2064 of \u2064which, \u200d\u201cLightyear\u201d and \u200b\u201cStrange\u200c World\u201d, were\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-barbie-end-margot-robbies-streak-of-box-office-flops\/\" title=\"Will \"Barbie\" break Margot Robbie's box office losing streak?\">box office bombs<\/a> that cost \u200bthe company a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/report-disney-lost-quarter-billion-dollars-two-woke-failures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">quarter \u200bof a \u2062billion dollars<\/a>) to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ufc-legend-anderson-silva-cleared-to-fight-jake-paul-clarifies-he-was-not-knocked-out-during-training\/\" title=\"UFC Legend Anderson Silva Cleared to Fight Jake Paul, Clarifies He Was Not \u201cKnocked Out\u201d During Training\">highly publicized fight<\/a> with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis,\u200b there\u2019s nary \u2064an area in\u200c the media giant\u2019s business which\u200d doesn\u2019t pay some degree of fealty to the\u2063 left.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s affecting the business \u200dmodel. Consider Disney\u2019s theme parks, \u200cfor instance, where\u200c visitors \u200bhave been noticing a rarity this summer: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disney-world-sees-previously-unfathomable-sign-fans-jumping-ship-july-4-holiday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">short lines \u2062from\u200b a lack of attendance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This includes ESPN \u200c\u2014 \u200bwhere \u2062you would think wokeness \u200bwould\u200d be curtailed given the makeup of the sports-watching demographic. You\u2019d\u2063 be wrong; take\u200b fired\u200b host Max Kellerman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/espn-host-blames-right-wing-agitators-riots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">who once blamed<\/a> \u201cextremist right-wing agitators\u201d for \u200bthe \u2064fiery\u200c (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/pat-buchanans-1992-culture-war-speech-hits-even-harder-today-greatest-man-never-became-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">but\u200c mostly peaceful<\/a>) protests of 2020:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">ESPN\u2019s Max Kellerman says \u200dwithout any evidence that \u201cextremist right-wing agitators\u201d are responsible for the riots \u2064around America.<\/p>\n<p>This is insanity. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/woOvFtwIvr\">pic.twitter.com\/woOvFtwIvr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David\u2062 Hookstead (@dhookstead) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dhookstead\/status\/1308451193962729473?\">September 22, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And this isn\u2019t counting the number\u200b of prayer \u200dcandles that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disney-announces-kaepernick-will-coming-espn-help-jemele-hill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have been\u2063 burned at ESPN<\/a> in honor\u2063 of its patron martyr, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/kaepernick-likened-nfl-plantation-draft-slave-auction-still-wants-play-though\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">St. Kaepernick of\u2063 Nike<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Not that this is \u200dany better than the sports leagues themselves, mind you; you might be forgiven \u200dfor not remembering how the NFL ended racism by putting \u201cEnd Racism\u201d at the back of the \u200dend zone in every stadium in\u2063 the\u2062 country. The \u2064MLB and NBA are hardly \u200bany\u2063 better, if not\u200b worse.<\/p>\n<p>However,\u200d at the end \u200dof the day, it\u2019s one color that matters to both Disney\u2063 and the three major sports \u200bleagues: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disney-getting-desperate-travel-expert-drops-major-clue-house-mouse-headed-toward-cliff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">green<\/a>. And\u200b that\u2019s where\u200c Disney might run into some problems offloading ESPN, as CNBC noted: \u201cSuperficially, it may make less sense for the NBA, NFL and MLB which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desperate-disney-reached-out-to-3-major-companies-to-dump-some-of-espn\/\" title=\"Disney desperately contacted three major companies to offload some of ESPN.\">sign lucrative media\u2063 rights deals<\/a> with many media partners that fuel team revenue and player salaries with a range of \u2063media companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProfessional sports leagues \u2063could\u2064 face conflicts of interest\u200b if they take a minority stake in ESPN,\u201d the outlet \u2063added. \u201cOwning a stake in ESPN may irritate Disney\u2019s competitors, such\u2063 as \u200bComcast\u2019s\u2063 NBCUniversal, Fox, Amazon, \u2063Paramount Global and Apple, who help make the leagues \u2064billions of dollars by participating in bidding wars for sports rights. Taking an ownership stake in ESPN could give leagues the incentive \u200dto boost the value of \u2063that entity rather than striking deals \u200dwith competitors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CNBC\u2019s\u200b Alex Sherman \u2062continued, apparently with a straight\u2063 face, to note that among the \u201churdles for Disney\u201d would include the possibility of\u2063 bias: \u201cESPN also employs hundreds of journalists that \u200dcover the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nba-teams-required-to-host-booster-shot-events-by-new-years-eve-amid-coronavirus-surge\/\" title=\"NBA Teams Required to Host Booster Shot Events by New Year's Eve Amid Coronavirus Surge\">major sports leagues<\/a>. Selling an ownership stake to \u2062the leagues could \u200bcloud\u200d the perception of objectivity for\u2062 ESPN\u2019s reporting \u2063apparatus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For those of us who haven\u2019t been paying attention, that\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/espn-caught-using-extremely-dishonest-tactic-smear-ex-host-now-works-fox-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">already been sold \u2063off<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The post \u2062 <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/desperate-disney-reached-3-major-companies-dump-espn\/\">Desperate Disney Reached \u2062Out to 3 Major Companies to Dump Some of ESPN<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Association, and the National Hockey League, in an effort to secure additional funding for its struggling sports network, ESPN. Disney is looking to capitalize on the popularity and value of these leagues to attract potential investors and generate much-needed revenue for ESPN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":663,"featured_media":1980262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1980261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1980261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1980262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1980261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1980261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1980261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}