If The Walt Disney Co. is looking for a partner for ESPN, it probably won’t be Comcast, said Comcast president Michael Cavanagh.
Speaking on Comcast’s second-quarter earnings call Thursday, Cavanagh said he liked his company’s sports portfolio and would be looking at the rights to the National Basketball Association, whose current deals with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery will soon be up for renewal.
Cavanagh acknowledged that he’s been asked about speculation Comcast might be interested in swapping its interest in Hulu to Disney for a piece of ESPN.
Disney CEO Bob Iger last week floated the notion that Disney might be interested in finding strategic partners to help ESPN as it makes a transition to streaming. Commentators pointed to Comcast as a potential partner.
“I would just say that’s very improbable,” Cavanagh said, citing tax and structural issues.
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“We’ve got one of the best portfolios in sports,” he added, citing assets including rights to Sunday Night Football, Big Ten sports, the English Premier League soccer, NASCAR, WWE, the PGA and the Olympics.
He added that NBCUniversal’s talent and production capabilities make Comcast attractive to leagues as well as the multiple platforms across broadcast, cable and streaming it can employ to build reach.
“That brings us to the table with more than money when it comes time for discussions around how rights owners want to create value,” he said.
Sports are also an important driver for Peacock. “I think when you look at the value of [sports] rights that are streamed inside Peacock … and when you include the value of the Olympics next year, it is very substantial and would alone represent a really good deal for the consumer.”
Cavanagh added that the company is always looking for ways to add value to its business when it comes to sports.
“So obviously the NBA’s coming up. That’s a fantastic property,” he said. “We don’t necessarily need it given the portfolio we have, but given its strength and our historical involvement in the sport, I’d like to see us take a look at it and we’ll see where that goes.”
