What does Josh D’Amaro becoming Disney CEO mean for ESPN?

After months of speculation, Disney made its decision official on Tuesday, announcing Josh D’Amaro as the successor to Bob Iger as the company’s CEO.

In the sports world, that leads to the natural question: “What does this mean for ESPN?” as the Worldwide Leader in Sports remains one of the key components of Mickey Mouse’s portfolio.

While D’Amaro doesn’t necessarily have a strong sports (or television) background, his most recent role as the chairman of Disney Experiences offers some clues about how his influence in Bristol, CT, might be felt. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Georgetown alum’s recent resume and how it could potentially impact ESPN.

Business background

First things first (wait, wrong network): D’Amaro’s impending promotion likely won’t change much — if anything — when it comes to the day-to-day operations in Bristol. Given D’Amaro’s lack of a sports or media background, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro’s role becomes even more critical, especially with topics such as content and talent.

What will likely change, however, is the framework ESPN operates within.

D’Amaro’s career at Disney — and especially his most recent role — has been defined by consumer experience, monetization and scale. Theme parks, resorts, cruises and consumer products are all businesses where performance is measured in engagement, pricing power, brand loyalty and repeat customers.

D’Amaro has obviously found plenty of success with this strategy, as best evidenced by Disney Experiences’ operating income jumping from $6.8 billion in 2019 to $10 billion in 2025 under his watch, with the division accounting for between 55% and 70% of Disney’s profits since 2022. In many ways, this approach has reshaped the company’s internal power structure, which is perhaps the biggest reason he’s now the CEO-in-waiting. It’s also a mindset that maps pretty cleanly onto where ESPN is heading, especially as it continues to embrace a direct-to-consumer streaming approach.

Not the nostalgic type

If there has been one theme of D’Amaro’s rise through the Disney ranks, it’s that the company has entrusted him to get the most out of its biggest cash cows. And that path now intersects with ESPN, which remains profitable despite the challenging nature of the cable television environment.

It will now be D’Amaro’s responsibility to ensure that remains the case, especially amid rising rights fees, declining cable subscriptions, and the uncertainty surrounding streaming. That could lead to some challenging decisions, especially when it comes to deciphering what viewers say they want and what their behavior actually indicates.

That’s not to say that D’Amaro is going to start slashing popular shows/talent or lean into a more sensationalized approach aimed at maximizing attention. But his own history has shown that he’s not necessarily the nostalgic type, nor is he someone willing to stick with the status quo at the expense of a greater return on investment.

Look no further than his handling of Disney theme parks, which saw the company cut popular programs such as free shuttle buses from the airport and add a $15 daily fee to the formerly free FastPass (now Genie+) line-skipping program. D’Amaro and Disney’s thinking was seemingly that visitors might complain, but they’ll still show up — and the ones who don’t will be offset by the increased spending from those who do.

In a 2022 Wall Street Journal article detailing the shifting strategy at the theme parks, including rising prices, D’Amaro described the approach as an “inevitable result of progress.” And while it may be too early to speculate on specifics, it’s also easy to envision how such an approach could translate to ESPN, especially during one of the most transformative periods in the company’s history.

Don’t ignore the Experiences

While D’Amaro’s sports background may be limited, it isn’t nonexistent; it primarily comes in the form of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which falls under Disney’s theme parks umbrella.

Considering that his own background is in experiences, it’s not a stretch to think that D’Amaro could look to further eventize ESPN. Sure, the network has tried that to varying degrees and with mixed results in the past. But now it would be doing so with arguably the most successful experiences executive on the planet at the helm of its parent company.

As for what that might look like — and this is just speculation — ESPN could re-emphasize the Wide World of Sports Complex as a destination, while also increasing the network’s presence (which is relatively nonexistent) at the Disney theme parks. If D’Amaro’s strategy is to get the most out of his paying customer base, then it would make sense for ESPN to not just limit its offerings to what’s available on your television (or tablet or phone) screen.

The bottom line

Given D’Amaro’s lack of sports and media experience, it’s tough to say for certain what his new promotion means for ESPN. But even if he’s hands-off with the day-to-day operations, his influence will undoubtedly be felt.

If his most recent role is any indication, D’Amaro will look to optimize monetization opportunities, maximize efficiencies and extract as much value as possible from a core customer base. Sure, that approach will likely generate some backlash along the way. But he’s already shown a willingness to shrug off short-term P.R. hits knowing that the brand’s most loyal audience will ultimately adapt.

We don’t know what that will mean for ESPN just yet, but it will be worth monitoring the network’s pricing strategy and approach to premium access under D’Amaro’s watch. And it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see the sports cable giant adopt an approach less deferential to legacy thinking and more in tune with its business needs.

For better or worse, that’s where most of sports media already appears to be heading anyways.