The first topic we ever wrote about in this newsletter was the idea that ESPN would become direct-to-consumer, which we thought would happen in under five years.
While we know you trust what we say, another fellow Ithaca College graduate, one Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, chimed in last Thursday on the topic, saying at the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference that it is “inevitable” that ESPN will go DTC:
“One of the reasons we’re optimistic is we know the power and popularity of live sports and we know how attractive it is,” Iger said. “Not just to consumers, but to advertisers.
“At this point, [ESPN+] is what I call a flanker business or brand to the main ESPN brand. Down the road, at some point, I think it is inevitable … [ESPN] will become a direct-to-consumer business. There’s a reason to be bullish. We think we’re well-positioned.”
