DIS - ESPN said to talk with NBA NFL over strategic partnerships

2023-07-21 13:52:45 ET

ESPN ( NYSE: DIS ) reportedly held talks with the National Basketball Association and National Football League as it looked for potential strategic partners in its business.

That would be an unprecedented step but secure premium content from those top-drawing sports as the Walt Disney ( DIS ) sports network looks for a way forward through a complicated media landscape.

ESPN talked with the leagues about a variety of new partnerships and investment structures, CNBC reported .

That could include minority stakes for the leagues in ESPN's business.

Disney stock ( DIS ) jumped to a 1.6% gain Friday afternoon on the news.

In the case of the NFL, the talks coincided with the football league's own hunt for a partner in its media assets -- NFL Network, NFL.com and RedZone, according to the report.

While it would help provide a path forward for ESPN, there's the chance of conflicts of interest if the leagues take equity stakes in ESPN, and of rankling sports-rights bidding competitors including NBCUniversal ( CMCSA ), Fox ( FOX ) ( FOXA ), CBS ( PARA ) ( PARAA ) and even nascent sports-streaming competitors Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Apple ( AAPL ). Along with the conflicts for the leagues, ESPN would be under new pressure to objectively cover sports that are partners in the enterprise.

That's not to mention any possible wish from Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League to be cut in on any deal.

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• ESPN reportedly making moves toward direct-streaming future

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