Acquired Episode 37: BAMTech, Disney and "the Biggest Media Company You've Never Heard Of”
01:20:25
Ichiro Audio Streaming Flop
- BAMTech initially failed streaming audio of Ichiro Suzuki's games for Japanese fans.
- They learned that fans preferred watching games, not just hearing them, leading to MLB.tv.
Ichiro Streaming Flop wasn't Tech
- BAMTech's audio streaming failure wasn't a tech issue, but a content issue.
- Fans wanted video, not just audio, showing the importance of understanding consumer needs.
BAMTech's Quick Iteration
- After the audio flop, BAMTech experimented with video streaming, starting with a Rangers-Yankees game.
- They quickly iterated, offering pennant race and postseason packages before launching MLB.tv.
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Introduction
00:00 • 3min
The Relationship Between Employee Experience and Stock Price Growth
03:08 • 2min
The History and Facts of BAMtech
04:48 • 2min
Building a Strong Tech Team in Major League Baseball
06:57 • 4min
The Failure of Audio in Major League Baseball
11:03 • 2min
The Rise and Fall of MLB
13:22 • 3min
Major League Baseball's Multi Platform Handoff
16:34 • 2min
The Rise and Fall of BAM
18:28 • 3min
The Rise of Live Sports Cable Bundles
21:27 • 2min
The Rise of BAM in the Cable Industry
23:35 • 2min
The Disruption of the Middleman
25:30 • 2min
The Future of Internet Television
27:41 • 2min
Disney's Acquisition of BAM Tech
29:22 • 2min
Disney's Option to Acquire Majority Share in BAMTech
31:12 • 2min
ESPN's Layoffs
33:25 • 2min
The Importance of OTT
34:59 • 2min
BAM Tech's Direct Rights Deal With Riot Games
36:34 • 4min
Modern Treasury: The Software Platform That Turns Money Movement Operations Into Code
40:45 • 2min
The Future of Disney's Content
42:18 • 2min
The Magic of Internet Business Models
44:04 • 2min
The Spin-Off of MLB's Streaming Video Service
46:27 • 2min
Amazon and Disney's Acquisition of Twitch
48:34 • 2min
The Importance of Owning a Major League Baseball Team
50:34 • 2min
Steve Balmer's Interview With Bill Simmons
52:19 • 3min
The Dissonance Between Baseball and Innovation
55:07 • 2min
The Future of Television
56:56 • 3min
How to Make Money in Business
59:49 • 3min
The Vertical Versus Horizontal Mess
01:02:25 • 2min
Disney's Minority Investment With the Option to Buy a Majority Share Later
01:04:08 • 3min
Disney's Acquisition of BAMTech
01:07:04 • 3min
Steve Balmer on the NBA and How He Operates His Basketball Team
01:10:08 • 2min
Uber D.D. Raises $5.5 Billion in a Private Company Fundraising Round
01:12:10 • 2min
The Future of Humanity
01:14:33 • 5min
Ben and David continue Acquired’s “tech and sports” mini-series with Disney’s 2016 acquisition of a minority stake (with the right to purchase a majority stake at a later date) in BAMTech, the internet streaming company originally founded as part of Major League Baseball in the early 2000’s. However the importance of this story goes deeper than just sports, with major ramifications for nearly every major technology company from Amazon to YouTube. Even if you’re not not sure if baseball’s played on a diamond or a gridiron, tune in as we swing for the fences in predicting the future of TV!
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Topics covered include:
- What is BAMTech, and why is it, according to The Verge, "the future of television”?
- BAMTech’s origins as part of Major League Baseball's Advanced Media division ("MLBAM)”)
- MLBAM’s founding CEO Bob Bowman’s decidedly “non-tech” background, and growth into one of the most important tech leaders of the past 15 years
- Initial technology struggles and learnings from early streaming efforts (including a botched audio package of Ichiro Suzuki’s games with the Mariners for fans in Japan)
- Landing on a streaming model that works with the launch of MLB.tv in 2002/2003—three years before YouTube is founded!
- Improvement of the MLB.tv service and MLBAM’s streaming expertise over the next ten years through the rise of mobile, and simultaneous growth of MLBAM’s revenues to over $1B annually
- MLBAM’s initial deals to expand its streaming services beyond baseball, starting with ESPN in 2010, then WWE, the PGA, HBO and the NHL
- The importance of media rights, and MLBAM’s transition from a simple tech/infrastructure provider to a full-fledged media company
- The decision to initiate a spin-off process for BAMTech from MLB in August 2015, and Disney’s $1B investment into the newly created spin-out company in August 2016
- Disney’s subsequent announcement that they’ll be working with BAMTech to create a direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service
- BAMTech’s $300M deal with Riot Games in December 2016 for the media rights to League of Legends eSports content
- Bob Bowman’s announcement in February 2017 that he’ll be stepping back to from a day to day role, and hiring of former Amazon VP of Video Michael Paull as BAMTech’s new CEO
Followups & Hot Takes:
- Facebook’s struggles with Instant Articles
- Microsoft killing Wunderlist (David is VERY sad)
- Instagram continues its torrid growth, passes 700M MAU
- Amazon’s new Look
- The Cloudera IPO
- Confirmation the ride sharing wars are far from over: Didi raises $5.5B in the largest private funding round ever
The Carve Out: