Report: ESPN spinoff likely won’t happen ‘anytime soon’

There’s a new sheriff in town at Disney, which has led many to speculate about the future of ESPN.

Next month, Josh D’Amaro will relieve Disney CEO Bob Iger of his duties atop the company. D’Amaro currently leads Disney’s experiences division, which includes parks and cruises. What his resume lacks is experience in media, leading some to question how he’ll handle certain Disney assets like ESPN and ABC.

ESPN has long been a redheaded stepchild of sorts for Disney. While the cable network was the company’s cash cow during the peak-cable era of the early 2010s, its operating income now clocks in at about one-third of the experiences division. And as we all know, cable television isn’t exactly a growth business in 2026.

That reality makes ESPN, ABC, and the other television networks under the Disney umbrella prime candidates for a spinoff, similar to what Comcast did with Versant or what Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to do with Discovery Global. The difference, of course, is that ESPN remains the linchpin of the pay TV bundle. Without ESPN, there is no bundle, full stop. Knowing that, the economics of ESPN are declining at a much more manageable rate than its cable network peers.

Then, of course, there’s still a hope that ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service can begin replicating the economics of the old pay TV bundle at some point down the line. Compared with other cable networks, there’s reason to have more hope for ESPN to survive and thrive.

Still, an ESPN spinoff is something that has been discussed for a long time, even before the pay TV business became what it is today. And D’Amaro’s promotion to CEO has added fuel to that fire. Last week, prominent media analyst Rich Greenfield predicted that an ESPN spinoff would happen within the next 18 months, if not sooner. That seemingly won’t be the case, at least according to one report.

Per CNBC’s Alex Sherman, spinning off ESPN was not a topic that Disney discussed with its CEO candidates during the selection process. “That’s probably a pretty good indication that nothing will happen there anytime soon,” he writes.

So at least for a little while, it seems like ESPN will remain under the Disney umbrella. At some point, however, a spinoff remains likely. Consolidation within the industry is a given, and a standalone ESPN would likely be in a position to acquire other assets, especially considering the network was just valued at $30 billion as part of its equity deal with the NFL.

But that’s apparently a conversation for another day.