Burke Magnus, President of content at ESPN, discusses ESPN's aggressive approach in retaining the NBA, interest in NCAA women's basketball tournament, future World Cup rights, upcoming College Football Playoff package, the failed negotiations with the Pac-12, ESPN's deal with Penn Entertainment, ESPN's approach to pay television and direct-to-consumer services, and the integration of Pat McAfee's show into ESPN's lineup.
ESPN is interested in aggressively bidding for the rights to the NCAA women's basketball tournament due to its success and viewership numbers.
ESPN wants to retain the NBA rights as they recognize its popularity as a global game with a dedicated fan base.
ESPN expresses its interest in bidding for the World Cup rights, highlighting the significance of this global property.
Deep dives
ESPN's Interest in Women's Basketball Tournament Renewal
ESPN expresses a strong interest in aggressively bidding for the women's basketball tournament rights, citing the success and viewership numbers of the previous year's championship. They emphasize the pride they take in covering women's basketball and their desire to keep the tournament as a priority.
ESPN's Commitment to NBA Rights Renewal
ESPN reaffirms their strong relationship with the NBA and expresses their desire to keep the NBA rights. They highlight the attractiveness of the NBA as a global game with a dedicated fan base and express hope in securing a package similar to their current deal.
ESPN's Interest in Bidding for World Cup Rights
ESPN states their interest in bidding for the World Cup rights, emphasizing the significance of this global property. While acknowledging the challenge of unseating an incumbent holder, they express their love for the tournament and the potential value it holds for the company.
ESPN's Future in the Streaming Environment
ESPN is actively preparing for a future in which streaming becomes the dominant medium for content distribution. While they acknowledge the continued profitability of linear TV, ESPN is working to optimize their multi-channel pay TV business model while also building successful streaming and direct-to-consumer products, including ESPN Plus. With a focus on reaching sports fans wherever they may be, ESPN believes they have the advantage of offering their content across various platforms and networks.
The Potential Market for ESPN Plus
ESPN is unable to provide an exact number, but they recognize the potential for a significant market outside of the traditional pay TV bundle for ESPN Plus. They have observed that the people leaving the cable TV ecosystem are not necessarily sports fans, indicating a healthy environment for ESPN. With the success of ESPN Plus and the increasing appetite for streaming, ESPN is eager to explore and learn more about the market and consumer interest in their direct-to-consumer offering.
Episode 326 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features an extended conversation with Burke Magnus, the president of content at ESPN who has oversight of ESPN’s live events, studio shows, newsgathering, original content/ESPN Films, the Talent Office, as well as audio, digital, and social media. In this podcast, Magnus discusses how aggressive ESPN will be in retaining the NBA; the interest ESPN would have if the NCAA women’s basketball tournament went up for open bid; ESPN’s interest in future World Cup rights; how Magnus sees the upcoming College Football Playoff package; the disbandment of the Pac-12; the reporting that ESPN once offered $30 million a team for the Pac 12 which the Pac 12 turned down; whether it is fair to blame Fox and ESPN for mass realignment in college football; if former Pac-12 teams going to the Big Ten hurts ESPN; the market for ESPN outside of the cable bundle; the expected price point when ESPN goes over the top to direct to consumer; whether there will be more layoffs this year at ESPN; the decision to let go of NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy; whether the NBA was involved in that decision; ESPN’s deal with Penn Entertainment; the rules covering ESPN employees on sports betting; Sage Steele settling her lawsuit with ESPN; how much ESPN fears Apple as a competitor for rights; how ESPN views the WWE rights; why ESPN wanted Pat McAfee’s entire enterprise; if non-ESPN people can come on McAfee’s show and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and more.