If Apple wants to make its bespoke content streaming service an uncontested leviathan, it should buy ESPN outright, based on the musings of one highly regarded Wall Street analyst. Now this view is getting increasing approval in the sports circles, making the gambit all the more compelling for Apple.
This proverbial ball started rolling in July when Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, exposed that the company was searching for “tactical partners” to broaden ESPN’s reach and content library. That discovery then triggered Wedbush’s Dan Ives to hypothesize as to the beauty of Apple getting ESPN.
Do note that Disney owns 80 percent of ESPN, with the residual 20 percent owned by Hearst Communications. The company has actually so far eschewed placing ESPN’s prime material on the ESPN+ streaming service due to the billions of dollars that the network continues to attract from conventional cable. However, cord-cutting is a reality, prompting Disney to explore a completely direct-to-consumer path for ESPN. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, such a path could probably materialize by 2025, with ESPN requiring at least 8.1 million subscribers by 2026 at $20 each month to balance out the revenue loss from cord-cutting. What’s more, a direct-to-consumer ESPN material streaming service could even bring advertising earnings of in between $6 and $7 each month from each subscriber.
In early August, reports emerged that Disney remained in early talks with the four major professional sports leagues in the US to obtain an equity stake in ESPN. There is a palpable sense of urgency at Disney, given the fact that the company’s own material streaming service, Disney Plus, lost $512 million in the most recent quarter. The iconic business is also encumbered debt, amounting to $44.5 billion.
Dan Ives Steps Up to the Proverbial Podium
This brings us to the core of the matter. In a financial investment note that has actually continued to amass rather a lot of attention, Wedbush’s Dan Ives wrote recently that Apple’s potential acquisition of ESPN was a” no-brainer,”offering the iPhone manufacturer a sure-shot method of acquiring “important sports content, major television rights across each of the significant professional and college sports bundles, and change the cross-sell chances and beauty of Apple television looking ahead while putting Apple on the sports map internationally speaking.”According to the Wall Street analyst, the acquisition makes a”
lots of tactical sense,” with the personal relationship between Bob Iger and Apple’s Tim Cook just increasing the possibility of some sort of deal over the coming years. Apple now has more than 1 billion paid memberships, with Apple TV Plus retaining just
a small sliver of this pie at 50 million paid subscribers(Wedbush estimates). The company has actually been aggressively adding sports-related material to its library, having actually secured special streaming rights for Major League Soccer(MLS)for a 10-year duration in June 2022. MLS season passes have actually seen a substantial boost ever since Lionel Messi signed up with Inter Miami. Naturally, Apple’s acquisition of ESPN would be anything but a walk in the park. At around$ 50 billion, this would be the iPhone producer’s largest-ever acquisition. For recommendation, Apple’s largest purchase to date is the$3 billion that it paid for Beats Electronics. Apple would also need to contend with a host of anti-competition hearings and claims. For those interested in getting a deeper insight into Ives’views, head over to this podcast and begin listening from the 35:30 mark. Apple’s Potential Acquisition of ESPN is Gaining Advocates every day Why Apple Should BUY ESPN|The Way We Watch College Football Could Be Changing as We Know It Also, Andy offers a correct service to all these video games being on different streaming platforms!.?.!@Andy_Staples!.?.! describes here: pic.twitter.com/Qv8GkjMRLM– On3 VIDEO (@On3Video )August 21, 2023 Andy Staples, a popular college football commentator, has actually now shown up in support of Dan Ives’views vis-à-vis Apple and ESPN. Saples points out the example of Fox when
it was a simple young child in the Cable television sphere. In order to attract viewers,
Fox acquired the rights to live stream the NFL games. Staples also believes that Apple is the only business that can combine the disparate landscape of college sports online viewership by integrating various streams within its Apple television Plus service. Apple has a market capitalization of$2.7 trillion and is resting on a cash stack of around$200 billion. The iPhone producer might theoretically purchase ESPN with
just a quarter of its cash stack ! Do you believe Apple getting ESPN is a no-brainer? Let us understand your thoughts in the remarks area below.
Fox acquired the rights to live stream the NFL games. Staples also believes that Apple is the only business that can combine the disparate landscape of college sports online viewership by integrating various streams within its Apple television Plus service. Apple has a market capitalization of$2.7 trillion and is resting on a cash stack of around$200 billion. The iPhone producer might theoretically purchase ESPN with
just a quarter of its cash stack ! Do you believe Apple getting ESPN is a no-brainer? Let us understand your thoughts in the remarks area below.