My oh my, how times have changed at the Walt Disney Company! When the entertainment monolith launched a cruise line in the early 90s, it made a big deal of no casinos being on board any ships, as gambling was not a business Disney wanted to be in. Fast forward to 2021, and Disney is fielding offers from sportsbooks to license the ESPN name.
Cara Lombardo and Benjamin Mullin of The Wall Street Journal report that ESPN leaders have met with Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings about a potential licensing deal. The network is reportedly seeking a multi-year deal worth $3 billion.
ESPN would allow a licensee to use the network’s name in branding and advertising. Renaming a sportsbook after ESPN could potentially be on the table as well.
It remains possible that no deal gets done. ESPN, rightfully, wants to price its name at a premium. Sportsbooks are seeing business boom as more states legalize sports gambling each year. That money is going towards original content. That may make spending money to partner with ESPN bad business.
A licensing deal would allow ESPN to profit off of the sports betting boom without making a serious commitment. The network has launched a variety of shows including The Daily Wager and ESPN Bet dedicated to the subject. It has struck deals to integrate odds and other gambling information into scoreboxes. The one thing it has not done is found a way to take actual bets, despite saying earlier this year that everything was “on the table” in terms of generating gambling money.
