Disney didn’t just acquire cable networks, film franchises, and a collection of regional sports networks it later had to sell off in its $71.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. It turns out the Mouse House also bought a stake in a sports gambling company.
Dustin Gouker of Legal Sports Report writes that part of what Disney acquired in that deal included Fox’s minority stake in DraftKings. It didn’t sell that stake to Sinclair as part of the reported $10 billion deal that saw Sinclair gain control of Fox’s 21 regional sports networks.
It isn’t absurd to think Disney wants to be in the sports gambling business. The company planned to invest in DraftKings in 2015 during the height of the daily fantasy debate, but those plans fell through.
What is interesting is Disney CEO Bob Iger’s insistence that Disney is committed to expanding sports gambling content but not getting into the business itself. It is a sentiment that has been echoed by several ESPN executives including president Jimmy Pitaro and many of his VPs. Disney is also in the casino gambling business now in a way. The DraftKings sports book in New Jersey includes several non-sports gambling games.
The future relationship of the two companies is unclear. The DraftKings brand would almost certainly be an asset to ESPN as it steps up its sports betting content. Investors in the family-friendly Walt Disney Company might be wary though. Gouker reports that the exact percentage of DraftKings owned by Disney is unknown as are Disney future plans for the company.
