Bob Iger made some interesting comments about The Walt Disney Co. - (DIS) -), the company he will be leading until at least 2026 after agreeing to a contract extension that was announced on Wednesday, July 12.
Iger returned as CEO of Disney in 2022 and was slated to stay at the helm for just two years, and told CNBC that the company's struggles have driven him to keep his post.
"The challenges are greater than what I anticipated," Iger said. "The disruption of the traditional television business probably is the most notable."
Disney owns a portfolio of networks, including ABC and ESPN, and he admitted that the company is exploring selling stake of the latter.
"We're going to be open-minded there too, not necessarily about spinning ESPN off, but about looking for strategic partners that could either help us with distribution or content. But we want to stay in the sports business," Iger said.
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Iger was adamant that Disney wants to remain in the sports space because it's "bullish" about sports as a media property.
He also recognized the overall media landscape's shift to streaming, and reconfirmed Disney's desire to push ESPN completely into a direct-to-consumer platform. But he did not confirm when exactly that would be.
While Iger did not share who the potential partners could be, many of the companies with the finances to acquire a company like ESPN are Apple - (AAPL) -), Amazon - (AMZN) -), and Google - (GOOG) -), all of whom have already entered streaming.
More ESPN:
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Disney owns 80% of ESPN while the remaining 20% is owned by Hearst Communications.
