An acquisition or strategic partnership with the sports channel would be “a no brainer,” wrote analyst Dan Ives. He said that buying ESPN would probably cost more than $50 billion, but would “make a ton of strategic sense” by giving Apple valuable sports content, major TV rights, and “change the cross-sell opportunities and attractiveness of Apple TV looking ahead… Apple recognizes that in this streaming arms race there is a ‘closing window’ for the stalwart to acquire content and cement its footing in the live sports content arena.”
Disney has signaled it’s considering selling or finding strategic partners for its broadcast and cable television assets. Executives have signaled they’re looking to sell a stake in ESPN to a partner that can help accelerate the network’s transition to streaming.
To Ives, this suggests ESPN “potentially may be on the table in one form or another.” Other analysts have advocated for Apple buying Disney outright.
