Buying ESPN Makes No Sense For Apple
We know that ESPN is a sinking ship. Rumors are flying that Apple might have an interest in buying the company outright. It should just also be mentioned that the executives running Apple would be totally brain dead if they bought ESPN. Purchasing ESPN makes absolutely zero sense for Apple.
For starters, we need to understand what kind of value ESPN has. What value does ESPN have for Apple? I’d argue they have next to zero value.
Cord cutting is real. ESPN is tanking because the number of cable and satellite subscriptions are tanking. It’s only going to continue to drop as more and more time goes on. There is a reason why so many people got laid off this Summer.
ESPN is basically a middle man. They host live sports and then make money off of those live sports. Their business is also tanking and are in danger of being outbid for those same live sports. If you’re Apple, why not bid more for the TV rights to the NBA, UFC, MLB, NFL, NHL, etc?
What does Apple actually need ESPN for? If Apple wants more TV rights for the streaming service, outbid them when the rights deals expire. The NBA deal is coming up soon. Why not just outbid ESPN for the NBA instead of spending all that money to buy the middle man?
Furthermore, if you like some of the talent at ESPN, why not just pluck them and put them on your streaming service? They do know that’s an option, right?
Again, I’ll ask this question. What are they really getting with ESPN? A campus in Bristol, Connecticut? That can’t be the appeal.
I understand if Apple wants to buy Disney. At least you have access to the Marvel movies. ESPN doesn’t actually have any tangible assets. They don’t actually have any original content. It doesn’t make sense and I just can’t fathom why they would want to purchase a sinking ship. If they’re smart, they will just outbid them for the live sports rights and let ESPN bleed out internally.
