Disney Considers Getting Into the Sports Betting Business

For decades, The Walt Disney Co. has carefully honed, polished and protected its image as a family-oriented business through its movies and theme parks. Even the mere hint of impropriety was forbidden, including gambling.

Now, according to a story by Robert Niles of the Orange County (Calif.) Register, Disney seems to be changing its tune.

The Mouse is apparently considering making an investment in sports betting through its ownership of ESPN and the network’s multitude of television and radio programming, website and podcasts, among other sports-related medium. Walt Disney World even has the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for athletic events ranging from youth to professionals.

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“As we follow the consumer, we necessarily have to seriously consider getting into gambling in a bigger and bigger way, and ESPN is a perfect platform for this,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said during last month’s earnings call, according to Niles.

Disney has long disassociated itself from gambling to the point where, as Niles noted, it vigorously has fought to keep hotel-casinos from being built anywhere near Walt Disney World in Orlando. It also refuses to place casinos – normally a popular staple of cruise ships – on its Disney Cruise Line vessels.

In fact, as Niles wrote in a personal anecdote, several years ago he tried to check scores from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on his phone using Disney wifi while he was at WDW.

The site was blocked because it contained “gambling content.”

The site was ESPN.com, which just goes to show you how serious The Walt Disney Co. was about betting.

But this is now 2021, and not only has gambling become more mainstream especially among young adults, it’s become big business. More and more states have legalized brick-and-mortar, as well as online, sports betting. And according to a report issued in September of this year by Zion Market Research, legalized sports betting has become a $131 billion annual industry in the U.S.

Even cruise ships have formatted their onboard casinos to include sportsbooks to wager on games.

Chapek said the company has done its homework on whether getting into the gambling business would harm its wholesome reputation.

“We have some concerns as a company about our ability to get in (gambling) without having a brand withdrawal, but I can tell you that given all the research that we’ve done recently that that is not the case,” Chapek said. “It actually strengthens the brand of ESPN when you have a betting component, and it has no impact on the Disney brand.”

And it’s not far off, either. The Wall Street Journal reported in August that ESPN is seeking to license its brand to major sports-betting companies for at least $3 billion over several years.