Apple’s Potential Acquisition of ESPN Continues To Attract More Supporters as College Football Viewership in the US Is Due Major Changes

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If Apple wants to make its bespoke content streaming service an uncontested behemoth, it should buy ESPN outright, as per the musings of one highly regarded Wall Street analyst. Now this view is gaining increasing acceptance 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, revealed that the company was searching for “strategic partners” to expand ESPN’s reach and content library. That revelation then prompted Wedbush’s Dan Ives to speculate as to the attractiveness of Apple acquiring ESPN.

Do note that Disney owns 80 percent of ESPN, with the residual 20 percent owned by Hearst Communications. The company has so far eschewed placing ESPN’s prime content on the ESPN+ streaming service due to the billions of dollars that the network continues to attract from traditional cable TV. However, cord-cutting is a reality, prompting Disney to explore a fully direct-to-consumer path for ESPN. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, such a pathway could feasibly materialize by 2025, with ESPN requiring at least 8.1 million subscribers by 2026 at $20 per month to offset the revenue loss from cord-cutting. What’s more, a direct-to-consumer ESPN content streaming service could even bring advertising revenue of between $6 and $7 per month from each subscriber.

In early August, reports emerged that Disney was in early talks with the four major professional sports leagues in the US to acquire an equity stake in ESPN. There is a palpable sense of urgency at Disney, given the fact that the company’s own