The Walt Disney Company is fully committed to jumping into sports betting in the near future to help bolster its ESPN offerings, but there is still no clear move forward.
During Disney’s recent Q3 earnings call, CEO Bob Chapek said the company has been in “conversations for quite a long time” with multiple sportsbook platforms. Chapek said adding a sports betting function to ESPN would help ease friction for consumers.
“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,” Chapek said. “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 are being – having their needs met.”
ESPN likes sports betting potential
In a recent interview with , ESPN VP of Sports Betting & Fantasy Mike Morrison remained quiet about potential sports betting integration into the network. Still, Morrison was bullish about what sports betting means to ESPN.