Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Jimmy Pitaro on ESPN's Recent String of Rights Deals, the Rise of DTC, and Disney's Commitment to Sports

18/10/2021

Jimmy Pitaro on ESPN's Recent String of Rights Deals, the Rise of DTC, and Disney's Commitment to Sports ESPN chairman provides update on latest news, rumors, and rights agreements By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Monday, October 18, 2021 - 3:31 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Since being named president of ESPN in March 2018, Jimmy Pitaro has overseen a tectonic shift in the way ESPN reaches the fan, along with a bevy of new media-rights deals worth billions. Now chairman of ESPN and sports content at Walt Disney Co., he is tasked with maintaining the revenue generated by the traditional cable model for ESPN while also preparing for a direct-to-consumer future with ESPN .

At SportsBusiness Journal's World Congress of Sports last week, Pitaro addressed a variety of topics: notably, ESPN's latest NHL-rights deal, the new Monday Night Football Wild Card Game, upcoming rights opportunities for the Premier League and Big Ten, the rise of the direct-to-consumer model, the future of regional sports, Disney's rumored spinoff of ESPN, and how ESPN will factor into the growing sports-betting landscape.

On how ESPN's NHL deal came about:

My direct reports and I got together and looked at the five-year plan and what rights were coming up. We put them up on a whiteboard, and, across the board, every one of my direct reports and I felt like the NHL was a priority and that we wanted to be creative here to bring those rights either whole or in part back to ESPN and the Walt Disney Co. Fast forward to today, and, if you look at the scope of that deal we have rights for ESPN, for ABC, for ESPN , and for Hulu. I give the commissioner and his team a ton of credit for seeing our vision and taking a chance with us. We have 75 exclusive national games for direct-to-consumer platforms, 100 exclusive national regular-season games - 25 of those will be linear television on ESPN and ABC, 75 of them will be direct to consumer. That's a pretty progressive deal, and I give the league a ton of credit for aligning with us on that.

On ESPN's interest in the upcoming NFL Sunday Ticket rights package:

I'm a New York Giants fan, and I lived in Los Angeles for 18 years, so I see the value of that out-of-market package. I also see the value of it when I look through the direct-to-consumer lens. I think it would be great. I also understand that it's incredibly valuable to the league and there are many enterprises that are interested in it. We are certainly one of them.

On the value of ESPN's rights to the new Monday-night NFL Wild Card Game:

It boils down to the clarity: knowing that we have that specific window locked in gives us the ability to promote it well in advance, market it, get behind it, have our studio shows rally around it. It's also a primetime game, and we think it's going to do huge ratings. We were pretty clear with the league that this was important to us. Partnership with the league is on solid footing right now, and we expect that to continue to grow well.

On ESPN's interest in the upcoming Premier League media-rights package:

We are heavily invested in the game of soccer. We have a great partnership with MLS; we closed the deal recently with La Liga; we have rights to Bundesliga. We had a great year this year [with] fantastic off-the-charts ratings. We love the game of soccer. We love it on linear but probably love it even more for direct-to-consumer. Absolutely, we are interested in more soccer content, and we are looking at it right now.

On ESPN's recent 10-year SEC media-rights deal and how it impacts ESPN :

We couldn't be prouder of what we've recently secured with the SEC. That deal kicks off in 2024, but a lot of people have not focused on one aspect of that deal: the ESPN direct-to-consumer component actually started this season. So the rights acquisition that we recently closed kicks off in 2024, However, as a part of that negotiation, we worked very closely with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, and we're able to secure direct-to-consumer ESPN rights for out-of-conference games starting with this season. It's going really well for us on ESPN ; it's definitely a needle-mover for us.

On ESPN's recent string of major media-rights deals:

We have an annual operating plan; we have a five-year plan. And so we get together, and we create a budget for rights. Four years ago, we got together as a leadership team, and part of it was here's what's coming, and part of it was what is our budget and where does it make sense for us to [invest]? This string of seven deals didn't happen by accident. While it may appear that it was somewhat reactive, it was not. We were incredibly proactive. We knew what we wanted and what we were going after. At the same time, we also knew what our budget was and what we could and could not spend on these deals.

On ESPN's commitment to Major League Baseball:

We are completely committed to the game of baseball. [MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred] and I spoke about this several times. I was clear with him that our focus is on the national games, exclusivity, and big, impactful experiences, including the Home Run Derby. I was clear with Rob that we were interested in more postseason. If and when they come to an agreement with their players on the expanded Wild Card, we've secured rights to that Wild Card series. We are completely committed to baseball as we have been for decades.

On how ESPN can serve both the traditional cable model and the growing direct-to-consumer model:

We're running parallel paths here. We're invested in the television business, which, by the way, has been really good to us and continues to be good to us to this day. It generates a ton of cash flow. It also gives us the ability to provide the reach that our
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/10/18/jimmy-pitaro-on-espns-recent-st...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

29/04/2026

Churchill Downs Racetrack Lifts Curtain on New Big Board Ahead of Kentucky Derby Week

It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...

29/04/2026

How the MLS Innovation Lab Enhances Everything From Athlete Performance to Production to Ticket Sales

In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...

29/04/2026

Save the Date: SVG Venues & Teams Summit Travels South to Miamis Kaseya Center on Aug. 12

Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...

29/04/2026

The Cast and Crew of Conbody VS Everybody Have Each Other's Backs for Life

(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Veronika Lee Cla...

29/04/2026

Free Tilt EQ plug-in from Techivation

Combines EQ and harmonic distortion Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...

29/04/2026

Expressive E launch the Osmose CE

Two new MPE controllers announced Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...

29/04/2026

iZotope RX 12 is here

New modules & enhanced machine-learning The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...

29/04/2026

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award

Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award 29 April, 2026 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Dr Jasmina Kevric...

29/04/2026

YEP Spotlight: Julissa Padilla

Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Promotes Brian Grahn, Ben Turnwell to Expanded Roles

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

The CW Unveils Major Streaming Deals with ESPN and Roku

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

Clear-Com Announces New Roles for Brian Grahn and Ben Tur...

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...

29/04/2026

Reduce Workflow Complexity with nxtedition at MPTS 2026

nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...

29/04/2026

Telxius taps Synamedia to unlock seamless global multi-CD...

Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...

29/04/2026

freispace and Projective Announce Joint Showcase of Integ...

freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...

29/04/2026

DHD Celebrates 30th Anniversary at 2026 NAB Show

DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...

29/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz

Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...

29/04/2026

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen

Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...

29/04/2026

Paramount Will be 49.5% Foreign Owned After WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

NAB Show 2026: AI, Vertical and BPS Dominate Broadcasters' Discussions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

IAB Tech Lab Announces New OpenRTB Attributes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/04/2026

Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentary series from BAFTA-winning Mindhouse, coming this summer

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...

29/04/2026

Sky announces upcoming documentary series The Lie That Exposed The Truth

Re-examining the case of Ellie Williams and the wider story of grooming in the town of BarrowWednesday 29 April 2026 Sky announces upcoming documentary series ...

29/04/2026

Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exclusive summer escape The Five Star Weekend, coming to screens this July

Wednesday 29 April 2026 Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exc...

29/04/2026

'SUPERNOVA: GENESIS' Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Million Viewers on Netflix

Back to All News SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...

29/04/2026

dB Sponsors College Sustainability Week

Students and staff from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge ran a 4.5km course around the roads of Cambridge as part of their annual programme of sustain...

29/04/2026

Listen to the birds sing! Experience mother nature in a seven-hour radio marathon

The Dawn Chorus airs Sunday 3 May from midnight to 7am on RT Radio 1 and RT ly...

29/04/2026

April 28, 2026

Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry. April 28, 2026 LA JOLLA, CA S...

28/04/2026

Sound for the NFL Draft Show Balances Often Conflicting Goals

The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast Last week's...

28/04/2026

Pac-12 Releases New Primary Mark Ahead of 2026-27 Season

The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...

28/04/2026

DP World Tour to Become First Professional Sports Organization to Use Amazon Leo Satellite Connectivity

The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...

28/04/2026

Pixellot and HELIOS Announce Automated Hockey Shift Video Integration

Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...

28/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Video Display at Asheville Tourists Ballpark

Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...

28/04/2026

Eutelsat and PCTV Renew Long-Term Video Distribution Partnership in Mexico

Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...

28/04/2026

Gary SouthShore RailCats Install New Daktronics LED Display at U.S. Steel Yard

Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...

28/04/2026

Telos Alliance and College Radio Foundation Award Omnia.11 Processor to Wright State Universitys WWSU-FM

Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...

28/04/2026

Inside the Mix: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason on Golfs Biggest Broadcasts

Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...

28/04/2026

The CW Network Acquires Exclusive Broadcast Rights to WWE NXT Premium Live Events

The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026: AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPMX

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026 SportsTechBuzz in Review: A Look Back at the Big News From 150+ Companies in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...

28/04/2026

Gray Media, RAJ Sports Launch New Womens Sports RSN in Portland - Rose City SportsNet

Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...

28/04/2026

Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings

Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...

28/04/2026

Spotify rapporterar resultat fr frsta kvartalet 2026

I dag presenterade vi v rt resultat f r det f rsta kvartalet 2026. Vi inleder ret med starkt momentum i hela verksamheten och fortsatt innovation p plattforme...

28/04/2026

Mojave introduce the MA-C vocal mic

New handheld promises studio performance for the stage Mojave have just introduced a new live-focused handheld vocal mic created by award-winning designer D...