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Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed Wednesday that there have been discussions to add other companies’ sports offerings to the upcoming ESPN streaming platform.
That sounds a lot like Venu Sports, the failed sports streaming joint venture that was shut down earlier this year after an antitrust lawsuit.
Iger’s comments were made at the tail end of Walt Disney Company’s third-quarter earnings call, which touched on all aspects of Disney’s business—from the newly announced agreement under which the NFL will take an equity stake in ESPN to the state of Disney’s cruise ship and amusement park businesses. He was responding to the final question of the call, when Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar asked whether there will be future opportunities to bring additional sports onto the streamer.
“Yes, we believe there may be opportunities for us to bundle other companies’ sports offerings,” Iger, 74, said. “We’ve actually had discussions with other companies to do just that.”
“Nothing to report on that,” he added. “But obviously, we’re not only interested in growing engagement and growing our own [subscriptions], but we’re interested in serving consumers better as well.”
ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer platform, called “ESPN,” will launch Aug. 21 and cost $29.99 per month.
Iger went on to say that his focus is making it easier for fans to find the sports they want to watch, something he himself struggles with.
“As a devoted sports fan, I often have to work to find what platform sports are on,” he said. “If we can help consumers in that regard, we’re certainly going to try.”
Iger didn’t mention Venu, but what he was describing is reminiscent of the once-planned joint venture between ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery that was shuttered in January amid controversy.
Fubo had sued over the formation of Venu last summer, arguing the initiative violated U.S. antitrust law. Fubo succeeded in blocking the intended debut of Venu last fall, and the case was still ongoing when the saga came to a sudden end in early January, with Disney agreeing to buy a majority stake in Fubo and the parties dropping the lawsuit. Days later, Venu shuttered for good, after satellite TV carriers DirecTV and EchoStar filed letters with the U.S. District Court arguing that the Disney-Fubo deal and the resulting dismissal of legal claims did not “address the underlying competition issues,” and that Disney simply paid Fubo “to ensure cooperation from an aggrieved competitor.”
