It seems CEO of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger agrees somewhat with his predecessor, Bob Chapek, on one thing: sports betting.
During today’s Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Iger spoke about betting, stating that he thinks it is the future of the sports business, although he’s more reluctant to dive into it.
Former CEO Bob Chapek was previously quoted saying that Disney must “seriously consider getting into gambling in a bigger way, and ESPN is a perfect platform for this” at the fourth-quarter earnings call in 2021. In August 2022, before he was fired, he had hoped to announce a sports betting partnership in the near future.
Iger said today that while it wasn’t an immediate thing, he felt that it’s “inevitable” for sports entertainment production to become seamlessly aligned with sports betting.
“I think that’s important to consumers, particularly young consumers,” Iger said, citing his 20- and 24-year-old sons as members of that particular group. “I’d prefer to wait as long as possible, but when I think about them, I think it’s inevitable that there’ll be … basically a seamlessness between sports programming and sports betting.”
Read more of Iger’s comments from the Q&A session:
- Disney CEO Bob Iger Talks Future of Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Disney Could Soon Own 100% of Hulu Thanks to Comcast Deal
- CEO Bob Iger Talks Disney Parks Guest Experience, Rethinking Pricing Strategies, and Opportunities to Add More Attractions
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