Disney CEO Bob Chapek says ESPN will never take bets, is seeking partner

Disney CEO Bob Chapek says ESPN will never take bets, is seeking partner

Article brief provided by CNBC
  • Lillian Rizzo, CNBC
September 15, 2022 11:21 PM
  • Lillian Rizzo, CNBC
  • United States

Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said Thursday that the company’s sports network ESPN is looking for a partner to help it step into sports gambling.

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“We at ESPN have the ability to do that. Now we’re going to need a partner to do that, because we’re never going to be a book, that’s never in the cards for the Walt Disney Company,” Chapek told CNBC’s David Faber said in an exclusive interview. “But at the same time, to be able to partner with a well-respected third party can do that for us.”

The comments come after activist investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point recently took a new stake in Disney during the second quarter, valued at about $1 billion, or 0.4% of the company.