WEBVTT - Bloomberg Markets: Eisner Says ESPN Has Nut Run Its Course

0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.240
<v Speaker 1>I'm sitting here at the Bloomberg Sports Summit at the

0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:04.800
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg headquarters here in UH in Los Angeles, and I'm

0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.240
<v Speaker 1>joined right now by Michael Eisner, a former CEO of Disney,

0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:11.600
<v Speaker 1>who's UH also a owner of a football team now,

0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:16.120
<v Speaker 1>the Portsmouth Football Club that you've purchased your investment group, UH.

0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:18.800
<v Speaker 1>And I'm it's so interesting to me that you've got

0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.560
<v Speaker 1>involved here with a soccer team and also soccer team

0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:23.279
<v Speaker 1>and sort of not not in the top two leagues,

0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.000
<v Speaker 1>but maybe the third league in in in UH in Europe,

0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:30.360
<v Speaker 1>and I wonder what business opportunity you see there. Well,

0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:32.560
<v Speaker 1>it was actually the fourth league when we were negotiating

0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.000
<v Speaker 1>and ended up in the third league. I would rather

0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.519
<v Speaker 1>which I did at ABC and a paramounted Disney, go

0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.000
<v Speaker 1>into a situation where you can't fall off the floor

0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:47.080
<v Speaker 1>and you build it up, rather than spending all that

0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:52.800
<v Speaker 1>equity for the Premier League and then getting relegated and

0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.600
<v Speaker 1>losing all your recording. So it's a big spread between

0:00:56.960 --> 0:00:59.520
<v Speaker 1>what Manchester United is worth than what we paid for

0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.800
<v Speaker 1>poor Smith, like three billion dollars spread that ain't nothing.

0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.960
<v Speaker 1>So there's a lot of upside and it's a very

0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.440
<v Speaker 1>famous team. It's the naval city. It's the only island

0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:17.440
<v Speaker 1>city and and uh in England like Manhattan is island city.

0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.880
<v Speaker 1>Um they have they won the f A Cup, They've

0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.800
<v Speaker 1>been in the Premier League. They were owned by a

0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:26.440
<v Speaker 1>arms dealer who went under, took them under. They were

0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:30.800
<v Speaker 1>owned by a another strange character, and finally was brought

0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:35.319
<v Speaker 1>by the fans four years ago. Three thousand fans put

0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:39.200
<v Speaker 1>up a thousand pounds each and then sixteen others matched it,

0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:45.200
<v Speaker 1>and I bought it from them the summer. And I'm

0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.000
<v Speaker 1>just gonna be patient. I guess my questions. What's the

0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.520
<v Speaker 1>business opportunity there, What's what's what's the model for this

0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.280
<v Speaker 1>that that will help you make some money on this deal?

0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.840
<v Speaker 1>The spread between Manchester United and Pointsmouth, So it's getting

0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.200
<v Speaker 1>out up there. Yeah, I mean, I'm no interest in

0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:02.120
<v Speaker 1>selling it every I've got three sons that are interested

0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.600
<v Speaker 1>in it. I think investment outside the United States is

0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:12.960
<v Speaker 1>a good idea. I think Brexit created a a discount

0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.880
<v Speaker 1>to the dollar. I think the Premier League and even

0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:20.040
<v Speaker 1>the Championship League with principally the Premier League is the

0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:25.919
<v Speaker 1>best world league sports. Uh, maybe even bigger than in

0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.440
<v Speaker 1>the NFL. It doesn't face the problems and some of

0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:33.639
<v Speaker 1>the other leagues have. It is the world's sport. MSL

0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:37.840
<v Speaker 1>in the US is becoming more and more entrenched. H

0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:41.200
<v Speaker 1>Someday maybe the m MSL will will play the same

0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.120
<v Speaker 1>season that the rest of the world plays. So it

0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.400
<v Speaker 1>just seemed to me town of a no brainer. You know,

0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.280
<v Speaker 1>you just talked about um Michael's Carol Masser back in

0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:52.400
<v Speaker 1>the New York studio about you know, taking a team

0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.720
<v Speaker 1>that has the potential to do so much more right

0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.880
<v Speaker 1>rather than somebody that's you know, necessarily right at the top.

0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:03.840
<v Speaker 1>Let me ask you about out Disney ESPN. ESPN has been,

0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:07.760
<v Speaker 1>you know, the cream of cable properties. Um, but we

0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:12.640
<v Speaker 1>know that subscribers have been declining. Is this a property

0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.200
<v Speaker 1>that you think is worth holding onto for the longer

0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.359
<v Speaker 1>term at this point or has it run its course? Well,

0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.200
<v Speaker 1>it's not run its course. I mean when we bought

0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.120
<v Speaker 1>Capital Cities ABC, it was the hidden asset. Not even

0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.600
<v Speaker 1>really recognized it, but we did. I think it just

0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:32.480
<v Speaker 1>has had a fantastic run. Um. Yes, it paid a

0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.240
<v Speaker 1>lot of money for the franchises it has, and yes,

0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:38.920
<v Speaker 1>there are some areas that are concerned, you know, the

0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.040
<v Speaker 1>cord cutting and all that, But I have great faith

0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.640
<v Speaker 1>in the management of ESPN, all of whom then when

0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.000
<v Speaker 1>I was there, some of them I hired, like the

0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:52.800
<v Speaker 1>head and Bob Iger at Disney, and they recognize there's

0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:56.080
<v Speaker 1>a new world. But ESPN is still a great brand.

0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.160
<v Speaker 1>I mean, when I went to Disney, everybody was saying

0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.440
<v Speaker 1>it's going to be bought by United Technico, Large Genius

0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:02.160
<v Speaker 1>is going to be but by MGM it's gonna be

0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.960
<v Speaker 1>torn apart. Nobody cares about Disney, nobody hears about Family,

0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:10.880
<v Speaker 1>nobody can internationally. It's really failing. And it didn't take

0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.360
<v Speaker 1>too long to bring it back. Now ESPN is doesn't

0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.280
<v Speaker 1>need to be brought back. Everybody knows what ESPN stands for.

0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.120
<v Speaker 1>So if you can own the ESPN brand, which the

0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.719
<v Speaker 1>Walt Disney Company does, I think you're you're It helps

0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.440
<v Speaker 1>in your diversified company and it fits well with Disney.

0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:28.560
<v Speaker 1>But I guess I wonder, you know, are there what

0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.200
<v Speaker 1>are the opportunities in that new business model when you

0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.960
<v Speaker 1>have a longer tail, when you have the ability for

0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.120
<v Speaker 1>people to watch lots of different stuff and lots of

0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.279
<v Speaker 1>different ways, And I wonder it seems to me they're

0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.680
<v Speaker 1>going to be different business models at work. In sports,

0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.120
<v Speaker 1>there are there evolving business models. And and and we

0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.599
<v Speaker 1>had a great run in the broadcasting had the same

0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.680
<v Speaker 1>great run. Cable had the great run. But they haven't

0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.640
<v Speaker 1>gone away. CBS hasn't gone away. Um, movie theaters haven't

0:04:55.680 --> 0:05:00.080
<v Speaker 1>gone away. The great brands are there, so esp In

0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.960
<v Speaker 1>hardly has gone away. I mean, they're probably getting seven

0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:09.120
<v Speaker 1>or eight dollars a month. They're probably got eight perscriber

0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.599
<v Speaker 1>per month times eighty eight million of it is. I

0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.800
<v Speaker 1>don't think you should, you know, cry for them right now.

0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:21.679
<v Speaker 1>I'm I'm pretty happy still being a cheerleader for Disney.

0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:25.760
<v Speaker 1>I wond er two when you when you look at

0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.000
<v Speaker 1>what's happening with Disney. You know that Bob has extended

0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.640
<v Speaker 1>his his retirement date a couple of times now. But

0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.320
<v Speaker 1>I wonder when you look forward, who you think the

0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.760
<v Speaker 1>next city of Disney should be. I don't know. I

0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:42.159
<v Speaker 1>mean they're doing they're doing a search. Um, I hope

0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:44.480
<v Speaker 1>Bob stays for a long time. It's either that a

0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.640
<v Speaker 1>president United States pick one or the other. Maybe Disney

0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.080
<v Speaker 1>will be more fun. Um, he's not leaving for a while.

0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:56.279
<v Speaker 1>Um I. Often it is better from within than without

0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:01.040
<v Speaker 1>for successions. But that's what they're not working on. UM

0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.880
<v Speaker 1>and and But do you think that the necessary information

0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:05.880
<v Speaker 1>needs to be from someone in the company that they

0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.440
<v Speaker 1>don't need someone from outside. It's not necessary because I

0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.480
<v Speaker 1>came from the outside. Disney saw the advocated from the outside.

0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:16.719
<v Speaker 1>I came from Paramount. But when we made the transition

0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.320
<v Speaker 1>to Bob. When I left, it always was Bob Eiger

0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:23.800
<v Speaker 1>or who And there was nobody even close. Bob Iger

0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.279
<v Speaker 1>had been in president of a SEE and all the

0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.200
<v Speaker 1>rest of it in new sports and played out that way.

0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:31.560
<v Speaker 1>Michael Eismer, thank you very much so. Michael Eiser from

0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:34.040
<v Speaker 1>the Ports Smith Football Club, among other things, glad to

0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:34.640
<v Speaker 1>have you, right