Disney continues to work on “important” ESPN betting venture, says CEO

The conglomerate has been linked with a move into the sports wagering market for some time now, with Chapek in November last year saying its sports broadcasting arm ESPN is the “perfect” channel to achieve this.

Speaking in an earnings call after the group announced its second-quarter results, Chapek said talks with potential partners have been ongoing and that sports betting remains a realistic option for Disney.

“We have been in conversations for quite a long time now with a number of different platforms to add some utility to sports betting and take away some friction for that for our guests,” Chapek said.

“We have found that basically our sports fans that are under 30 absolutely require this type of utility in the overall portfolio of what ESPN offers, so we think it’s important.

“We’re working hard on it, and we hope to have something to announce in the future in terms of a partnership there that will allow us to access that revenue stream and also make sure that our guests having their needs met.”

Disney already has a presence in the sports betting market through ESPN, which in September 2020 entered a deal with DraftKings and William Hill, the latter of which has since been acquired by Caesars

Under this agreement, ESPN has been promoting DraftKings’ daily fantasy sport updates, while with the William Hill agreement, which transferred to Caesars through the acquisition, ESPN has been to showing the bookmaker’s betting odds.