I want to start off by saying if you’re new here, welcome and thank you. Odds are, you’ve probably been watching my videos for a while, and now with this newsletter, I can connect with you in a way where I won’t be censored. The format for this thing goes as follows:

Some pieces of current news

A blog I write just for you guys.

I do this because if you scroll to the bottom of any of my first ten editions, those blogs still hold up. Meaning anyone joining this community later than all of you can play catch-up quickly. While today’s stock market will be different than tomorrow’s, the stories I write about our pedophilic politicians will remain relevant. Except today is a little different. Today we will be talking about sports media as a whole because some shit just went down. Now, take the gun out of your mouth and start reading.

The State of Sports Media:

Disney just made a huge statement. For the first time, Disney disclosed how much ESPN really makes, as it’s now splitting its earnings reports between Sports, Entertainment, and Parks. Why would they let investors see under the hood of ESPN? Because they want to find a strategic partner to help them make the jump into the new era of sports.

It’s been a rough year for Disney. Between a writer’s strike that has put a pin in major Disney movie projects, to huge losses across their streaming sector, and a whole bunch of political bullshit, Bob Iger probably wishes he stayed on the down-low a little bit longer before returning as Disney’s CEO. And it would appear that things are only getting more complicated, as ESPN, Disney’s long-time cash cow, got completely revamped this past Summer.

In July, ESPN, the Disney-owned company once known as the worldwide leader in sports, fired almost every personality you’d remember from this past decade. In years past, ESPN could generate revenue growth by increasing programming fees for pay TV distributors, such as Comcast, Charter, and DirecTV, but as more people cut the cord, the well that these companies had for decades is finally drying out.

This puts ESPN at a crossroads. They have contracts that give them the rights to Monday Night Football, SEC and ACC football games, Sunday Night Baseball, a ton of NBA regular season and playoff games, and many of the most important NHL games, but with the rise of illegal streamers and teams like the Suns giving their fans free local access without having to buy a dumb cable package, ESPN’s future is in jeopardy. So, what are they doing to give themselves a fighting chance?

A few months ago, they went back on their anti-gambling promises and partnered with Penn National Gaming in a deal that netted them $2 billion over the next ten years. That’s a nice chunk of change for Disney, whose stock has looked like Teddy Kennedy’s car over the past two years, but it doesn’t end the concerns. One of the problems that Disney will face with ESPN getting in bed with a sportsbook is an ethical one.

Penn had to leave a partnership with Barstool because Dave Portnoy said things some people with a lot of power didn’t like, and they used their media apparatus to hunt his head. If Dave Portnoy’s life became an ethical concern for Penn stockholders, I can imagine the conflict of interest between Penn and ESPN would be one as well. While we live in a declining empire riddled with corruption, I would hope people would still have the ounce of intelligence it takes to realize that the company where most Americans get their sports news from shouldn’t be involved in sports betting.

If the partner helping your sinking ship stay afloat with billions of dollars doesn’t want you to report a player injury as soon as the news gets in your hand, you’re going to do what he says. Up to 8 million Americans have some degree of gambling problem, according to studies. A Gallup poll this year found that 28% of Americans believe gambling is morally wrong. While I don’t have a problem with gambling, I believe any adult should have as many freedoms as possible; there needs to be some form of regulation with anything that could destroy lives. Disney has been known as a family-first company since its inception; between inevitable regulation similar to that of Europe and backlash from families personally affected by gambling, this will most likely give Disney more headaches than it already has- at least, that’s what Wall Street is speculating.

Nobody imagines Minnie Mouse screaming at Mickey because his problem is so bad he can’t take her out for an anniversary brunch. They want good, wholesome family entertainment.

The mass firings of ESPN personalities we all knew and loved for decades, marrying news with gambling, this is all a really sticky mess. Surely, Disney wouldn’t be doing anything else to drive Disney into the ground? Wrong.

ESPN announced that sometime in the next few years, it will be launching a stand-alone streaming product. This means many of the most important games and shows we all watch on ESPN would leave the network. So? Isn’t everyone switching to streaming? This would’ve been news ten years ago. Not exactly.

ESPN charges pay-TV operators between $8 and $9 per subscriber. In comparison, ESPN+’s average revenue per user is $5.64. To offset people sharing passwords or making free trials for accounts, this streaming service will need to charge a premium price. Disney hasn’t disclosed any details regarding pricing, but analysts have estimated the service would need a minimum cost of around $30 a month in order to break even — let alone turn a profit. $30 a month is a lot to ask from people like you and me, and Keybanc’s survey data shows us that most people won’t budge.

So, what the hell is Disney going to do with ESPN?

ESPN has a lot of long-term value in its name, industry connections, and, most importantly, long-term contracts, but the brand is about to weather a storm Disney might not be able to take. If Disney had decided to keep things simple, they would have the money for these problems. Instead, they decided to start making princes non-binary and give princesses nipple rings and liberal arts degrees. I’m pretty sure I saw a video of Cinderella giving herself an abortion at one point!

They are cornered into a position where their only logical next step is to sell ESPN completely or to sell some of it, and those talks are happening right now.

Verizon:

One of the strongest ESPN suitors is Verizon. Verizon boasts more than 92.5 million wireless subscribers and is deepening its existing involvement with the NFL, offering a wide range of potential business combinations. If packaged correctly, Verizon could help consumers stay loyal to ESPN for a much lower price than thirty dollars. While both companies have lost battles to cord-cutters, Verizon would make a lot of sense for ESPN to roll out a streaming product with, and Disney most likely wouldn’t have to sell all of ESPN because their contracts with the sports leagues are so valuable.

But the easiest possibility for Disney would be a clean sell to a company with more money than small African countries, which brings us to ESPN’s other suitors.

Apple:

When we look back at the career of Lionel Messi, we won’t just say he changed the game of soccer; we will say he changed the world. Apple made its biggest move into live sports so far with a ten-year, $2.5 billion streaming deal with Major League Soccer a year ago, and Messi has that investment aging like Salma Hayek. To get an MLS season pass with AppleTV costs $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and according to the Sports Business Journal, they’ve seen 300,000 new subscribers since June alone. Apple hasn’t made any big purchases since they bought Beats from Dr. Dre; they aren’t known for spending, but what they’ve done in soccer has shown them that there’s a lot of cash for them in sports. The union of Apple’s two billion worldwide active devices with ESPN’s audience of 105 million monthly unique digital visitors and twenty-five million ESPN+ subscribers would change sports forever, and analysts are saying this could happen as soon as tomorrow.

Here’s the only problem with that. Time and time and time and time again, Apple has proven that they don’t care about being a moral company; they care about being an innovative and profitable one. I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but a lot of athletes are black.

I know that might come as a shock to some of you.

If those athletes began to be more vocal about the fact that Apple has used slave labor along their supply chain, it could be a nightmare for the tech giant. After all, we’ve spent the last eight or so years having daily national conversations about slavery and its consequences in America, so you would think that the athletes who spoke the loudest about human rights against black people would refuse to play games if they were streamed on an Apple service using an Apple product. But then again, money is money.

Amazon:

Sports streaming rights are long, expensive contracts. Amazon is paying $1 billion yearly for the next eleven years to keep streaming Thursday Night Football; YouTube is paying about $2 billion for the next seven. Let’s be honest with each other: as much as we hate it, we all use Amazon. It’s not like there is a shortage of people in the US with Amazon accounts. A potential deal with Disney could make Prime more of a destination for sports content. Amazon is already launching several AI-powered features for Thursday Night Football.

My Take on Barstool Sports:

Barstool Sports, which Dave Portnoy recently bought back for one dollar, will not be doing anything with ESPN, but let’s talk about them anyway. We’ve all heard of Barstool; we’ve seen the podcasts, tee-shirts, bars, and Pink Whitney, so why the hell would Penn National Gaming sell it back to Portnoy for only a dollar? When you think about it, Penn bought Barstool for $388 million. My best guess is that some of the younger executives at Penn were fans of Barstool and saw the company as one that would be perfect to marry with their new sportsbook because of its rabid fanbase and fluency in social media. They got the old guard at the company fired up, and Penn did the deal.

At first, this worked wonders as the stock was trading over one hundred dollars, and Penn was making a serious dent in the sportsbook market share with no marketing costs beyond Barstool Sports. But then the hit pieces came for Dave Portnoy, and every single heterosexual woman who identified as bi-sexual for a two-year period had something to say about words Portnoy wrote fifteen years ago or nineteen-year-old girls he DMed after getting hair plugs. But with the hit pieces came regulation, which led to several states not letting Penn operate in them.

Portnoy is Barstool, and Barstool is Portnoy-and Penn’s stock price reflected that. In an attempt to salvage their Barstool investment, Penn made Barstool softer, which in turn frustrated the fan base that made them so strong in the first place. Penn drove a uniquely loyal fanbase away, all while overpromoting their sportsbook far too much. Coinsiding with that statement, Penn’s technology was never a market leader to begin with, every long-time fan of Barstool didn’t want to say this out loud until a few months ago, but their app sucked. Comparatively to the user experience and deals FanDuel and DraftKings offer, Penn is a second-class sportsbook.

I think Barstool is primed to be as successful as ever for a few reasons, the main reason being Portnoy. Portnoy was basically half-retired for two years, and the Barstool fanbase has loved him back in the action. Barstool lost its edge for a few years, but not long enough to make the company forgettable like something like…. other content companies in the space. As social media platforms pay more and more creators to make videos on their apps, and creators learn how to close their own brand partnership deals, with Portnoy Barstool has one distinct advantage- they have a boss who understands the content itself and puts as much time and effort into it as they do.

Think about your favorite media companies for a minute. Social media creators with big followings are willing to work at companies like Barstool, Jomboy, TMG Studios, Friday Beers, ect. because they have bosses who work in social media with their creators. Any small-time creator would be willing to work at any company that gives them a paycheck, experience, and the ability to learn. Those companies can land big dogs at a discount because the leaders work side by side with the people making videos. Barstool employees have also had Penn’s benefit packages. With Portnoy back in town, the budget will most likely tighten for things like video production and travel. You also have to remember that while Penn’s corporate structure might not be at the company anymore, the relationships Barstool was able to make through Penn won’t be leaving anytime soon. New Amsterdam will not be ditching Pink Whitney, TaylorMade won’t be ditching Foreplay, the bars will still be active in major cities, and while Barstool can’t do anything with sports betting this football season, that revenue stream will be back by the NBA playoffs.

The possibilities for Barstool post-Penn can best be summed up by the career of one of their oldest bloggers, KFC. KFC was just named the head of Barstool’s comedy department, which couldn’t be more fitting. After establishing himself as one of the cornerstone bloggers for Barstool, Penn didn’t see KFC as a big part of their brand ownership. What did KFC do? He pivoted to comedy from lifestyle. He’s spent the last five years building relationships with the biggest comedians in the world, and he’s introduced countless people to guys like Shane Gillis, Chris Destefeno, and others. To have Big Cat, a guy beloved by most athletes, running Barstool’s Sports wing, and KFC, a guy beloved by most comedians, running Barstool’s comedy wing, with Dave Portnoy overseeing the entire operation is a recipe for success moving forward.