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The Journal.

Disney Gets Into Gambling

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.25.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After years of internal debate, Disney did a deal with a gambling company and will launch a betting app next month through its sports channel ESPN. WSJ’s Robbie Whelan explains how the family-friendly entertainment giant got to this point. Further Listening: -The Troubled Second Act of Disney CEO Bob Iger -The Showdown Over Hulu -The Disney Boss Who Wouldn’t Let It Go Further Reading: -Disney Goes All In on Sports Betting -ESPN Explores Sports-Betting Deal Worth at Least $3 Billion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Disney has made a multi-billion dollar business out of Mickey Mouse, princesses, and theme

0:10.9

parks where dreams come true.

0:14.7

So Disney obviously is a company whose main audience is kids and families, right?

0:21.6

That's our colleague Robbie Wheelan.

0:23.6

For most of its history, it's about a hundred years old, for almost its entire history, it

0:28.3

has been synonymous with family entertainment.

0:31.5

Disney is also one of the largest entertainment companies in the world.

0:35.7

It controls huge brands like Marvel, Star Wars, Hulu, and ESPN.

0:43.4

But in recent years, some of Disney's core businesses have been struggling.

0:47.8

Disney plans on cutting back on the amount of Star Wars and Marvel projects we'll be receiving

0:52.6

due to the recent underwhelming box office numbers.

0:56.4

Hulu, once a key pillar in Disney's triple-play streaming strategy, could now be on the auction

1:01.5

block.

1:02.5

Subscriber growth for Disney plus falling short of estimates last quarter.

1:07.4

To try to stay on top, Disney is now trying something totally different.

1:12.6

It's getting into gambling.

1:15.1

Through its ESPN brand, the company is going all in on sports betting.

1:20.4

And ESPN is going to put its name on a mobile app called ESPN Bet that will launch next

1:27.1

month.

1:28.1

For the family-friendly company, this move is a gamble.

1:32.8

Introducing gambling for some fans and for some executives, even inside Disney, felt

1:38.0

very uncomfortable because gambling is not really thought of as an activity that's safe

...

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