A new report from Bloomberg suggests that Disney and CEO Bob Iger are in trouble, and some in the company want to see Disney embrace video games as a solution. Bloomberg’s Thomas Buckley says that Iger’s deputies are pushing him to make significant changes, including the possible acquisition of EA and a more ambitious transformation of the company.
“ESPN agreed to a sports betting deal with downmarket casino operator Penn Entertainment Inc. that will pay Disney as much as $1.5 billion over a decade,” Buckley said. “For years, Iger insisted Disney couldn’t get into gambling because of reputational concerns; now it seems like one way to plug holes. Iger’s deputies are pushing him to consider a bolder transformation of Disney from gaming licensee to gaming giant through, say, an acquisition of Electronic Arts.”
Disney owns a broad range of lucrative game IPs, including Marvel’s Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Avatar.
An earlier Bloomberg profile of EA suggested the company split itself into more distinct pieces – EA Sports and EA Entertainment, for example – so prospective buyers could purchase the division they wanted more easily.
While EA-owned Respawn found success with Apex Legends and the Star Wars Jedi series, EA has struggled in the past decade to keep up with competitors, waffling between multiplayer and single-player games and closing disastrous projects such as Anthem. That record and EA’s Star Wars license may make them an attractive prospect for acquisition, but Buckley’s sources say Iger remains noncommittal.
Disney and EA did not comment on the situation after Bloomberg published its report.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
