Why ESPN wants two partners to buy into its future

Disney’s hope is to find two partners for ESPN as it attempts to sell a piece of the sports network, The Post has learned.

In an ideal world, ESPN would have a digital company, like Apple, and a mobile platform, such as Verizon, to go in together so it can leverage its sports assets with the best distribution channels. It is believed Disney only wants to sell 10 percent of ESPN, but this number could be fluid.

Let’s go deeper:

1️⃣ A little more news: It is looking ever likelier that ESPN, the mothership, goes direct to consumer in 2025. We have reported for a long time that it would happen by 2026 at the latest, pointing to 2025 as very possible. Disney is narrowing that down; if you are placing bets, go with 2025.

2️⃣ As we have discussed many times in this newsletter, the No. 1 way you win in media is by being the best at distribution. This dates back to the printing press.

In the digital age, this is much tougher. The cost to enter is now very low for anyone to publish words, video or audio, which makes competition more intense. It was not that way before the internet.

That said, there are clear leaders in distribution with companies like Apple and Amazon being among the digital kings. ESPN on Apple would allow it to be preinstalled on all Apple devices around the world and could become a default app on the company’s phones, iPads and computers, while also being able to further leverage Apple’s incredible subscription strength. This could work with many of the top digital players, including Google/YouTube and Microsoft, but Apple makes a lot of sense.

3️⃣ The mobile aspect in ESPN’s two-pronged distribution approach would allow the network to be on every phone and come with service contracts. There would be a ubiquity to it, which would create a smoother transition as the cable bundle weakens and direct-to-consumer potentially becomes a better business. Verizon and T-Mobile are among the potential partners.

4️⃣ Will Disney and ESPN be able to pull this off? Maybe. Say you are Apple, and you want a foothold in sports. You could wait out everyone and try to own entire leagues, like it is doing with MLS. And though a deal is very possible with the NBA in the near-term, it will not be the all-inclusive scenario that Eddy Cue has mused about.

But if Apple bought into ESPN and became the hub of sports, it could be a pretty unbeatable one-two punch because Apple would add even more financial might. If Apple wants to be big players in sports on its own, it will take at least another decade — and there would be no guarantees. The same sort of equation holds true with the Verizons and T-Mobiles on the mobile side.

Quick clicks

NBC’s Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett were criticized on social media for their pedestrian call of the Notre Dame-USC game on Saturday. While they received the scorn, the duo didn’t hire themselves. The miscalculation by NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood was that the inexperienced play-by-player, Collinsworth, was ready to handle such a top assignment. It was evident in the first Notre Dame game he called that he was not. As for Garrett, what he says is not bad, but it is how he says it. He lacks energy, which might not be as big of a deal with another play-by-player. On Saturday, Collinsworth and Garrett took the social media hits, but the game plan was the issue. …

YouTubeTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket has an estimated 1.3 million sign-ups, according to Antenna Data. The service says that 41 percent of them are new YouTubeTV subscribers. Not sure if the numbers are correct, but if they are, that means more than 500,000 new subs for YouTubeTV. Interesting side note for that is how that helps places like ESPN. The network is on YouTubeTV, so a win for Google/YouTubeTV is a win for Disney/ESPN. Those 500,000 subs either moved over from cable or satellite or are new. And Google/YouTubeTV is paying the $2 billion a year for Sunday Ticket. … TBS’s lead MLB play-by-player Brian Anderson had a strong call to end Game 2 of the Braves-Phillies NLDS. A friendly suggestion during innings: Anderson should talk a little less and let the game breathe more. … Jim Nantz and Tony Romo called the Raiders and Patriots to a small portion of the country because the Super Bowl is in Las Vegas this season. They used Sunday as a run through for February. …

Just a hunch: Amazon Prime Video had LeBron James and “The Shop” on an alternate-cast of the Chiefs and Broncos Thursday. While it was not bad and had some excellent guests, including Kevin Hart, it feels like Amazon may be using the telecasts as a way to establish more of a relationship for a possible run at James if Amazon gets an NBA package. … As World Series matchups go, Phillies-Astros feels pretty good for Fox, though anything with Arizona or Texas doesn’t feel like it would have much national juice. … Adam Amin and Jason Benetti are the two ESPN should never have let get away on play-by-play. Routinely reminded of what a good move that was by Fox Sports. … It was something to turn on College GameDay Saturday and hear Desmond Howard leading a chant of “Big Penix energy” for Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Clicker Books

As the NBA 2023-24 season starts up, Papa Clicker suggests that readers warm up by reading, “When The Game Was War (The NBA’s Greatest Season)” by Rich Cohen. The book follows four superstars — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas (whom the author holds in the highest regard) — through the 1987-88 season. Cohen goes into details on other stars, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adrian Dantley, Kevin McHale and Joe Dumars, while also explaining how the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls and Pistons rosters were formed. It receives 4.2 out of 5 clickers.