Since he announced last week that ESPN would consider taking on a strategic partner, much of the speculation has been that Bob Iger has his eyes on other media companies or private equity firms. That may be true, but the field may also not be that limited.
According to CNBC’s Alex Sherman, Iger has had talks with two of ESPN’s biggest rights partners. Sources tell Sherman that Iger and ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro have had discussions about minority investments from the NFL and the NBA.
Spokespeople for both ESPN and the NFL declined to comment. The NBA issued a statement, but it had very little meat to it.
“We have a longstanding relationship with Disney and look forward to continuing the discussions around the future of our partnership,” it read.
Discussions of the NBA owning a minority stake in ESPN have been part of the league negotiating a new media rights deal with Disney. Talks with the NFL have reportedly also included the potential for Disney to have a stake in NFL Media as well.
While a deal with a league would make sense for ESPN, it does raise a number of ethical questions. Would ESPN’s investigative reports suddenly find a league that owns a share of their employer to be off-limits? How would lawmakers view this sort of partnership in terms of anti-trust considerations? The partnership would be an unprecedented one, which is why there are so many questions to answer.
Sherman writes that there are a number of different ways any kind of partnership with ESPN and one of the major leagues could look. No deal appears to be imminent.
