Well, you will not directly find ESPN stock on a North American Stock Exchange; there are indirect ways to invest in ESPN as a company.
Investors would want to buy Walt Disney stock if they had the intent to invest in ESPN.
Disney acquired ESPN as a distribution Network several years ago and is currently the closest way for investors to gain exposure to ESPN directly.
Contents
- Introduction
- Why Did Disney Acquire ESPN?
- ESPN Revenues
- How To Invest In ESPN
- Similar Investment Opportunities
- Stock Price for ESPN in 2022?
- Final Summary | ESPN Stock
Introduction
ESPN was founded in Bristol, Connecticut, back in September of 1979.
The network’s owners are the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.
Stock market investors may be interested in purchasing Walt Disney stock considering the fact that they own the ESPN cable company.
It may be difficult to understand all of Walt Disney’s Acquisitions and why ESPN is one of them.
We will cover some of the reasons that Disney may have acquired ESPN and why it could benefit them as a company.
We will also cover whether or not it’s worth investing in ESPN through Disney’s stock.
Why Did Disney Acquire ESPN?
Disney never had the direct goal to acquire ESPN, although they did purchase ABC back in August of 1995, which owned a majority stake in ESPN Cable Sports Network.
Over time, Disney has taken advantage of having the ownership rights to the ESPN cable package Network, which is why some investors may be intrigued by the idea of investing in Disney to get indirect exposure to ESPN’s cable network.
ESPN is known for covering some of the most famous sports across the world.
These Sports include the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA Tour, MLB, and many additional sporting leagues that are prominent around North America and even the world.
While it may be frustrating to some investors that ESPN doesn’t have its own independent stock symbol on the stock exchange, it’s better than not having the opportunity to invest at all.
Anyone who invests in the Disney stock owns a portion of the ESPN sports network package, Specifically, because Disney owns a majority of the ownership rights for the network.
What does this mean exactly?
It means that Disney shares in the success of ESPN and in the difficulties of ESPN.
Major success for Disney can have a positive impact on ESPN just as easily as ESPN can have a positive impact on Disney.
This also means that it’s very unlikely that ESPN will ever have its own independent stock symbol on the stock market.
ESPN Revenues
One of the major concerns for ESPN is that it is slowly losing exposure to households across the world.
As digital streaming networks become more popular, ESPN’s cable network has less influence and exposure to the millions of cable television subscribers.
ESPN+ was created in 2018 with the hopes of catching some of the transition subscribers that are moving away from cable television and into the digital streaming world.
The good news is that ESPN+ has managed to take in more than 20 million users in 2022 and is continuing to grow rapidly with the help of the Walt Disney Company.
In terms of cable and satellite revenue for ESPN, they were only estimated to generate about 9 billion dollars during the 2021 calendar year since cord-cutting and transition to Digital streaming networks from millions of customers is harming their profit potential.
It is estimated that ESPN+ is generating more than 104 million dollars per month from its monthly subscribers.
How To Invest In ESPN
Hopefully, you have a slightly better understanding of how and why the Walt Disney Company acquired the ownership rights to ESPN’s cable network package.
With that being said, investors still cannot directly invest in ESPN through its own stock symbol.
The good news is that investors can indirectly gain exposure to ESPN by investing in the Walt Disney Company on the stock market, which is a public company.
The Walt Disney company’s individual share price is approximately $97.50 per share in July of 2022.
As ESPN is guided into the future, where cord-cutting is becoming more of a reality every single year, there is still hope that he has ESPN+ and can generate millions of dollars in revenue every month to offset some of the losses.
The digital world of streaming is becoming more competitive every single day as more companies enter the mix and try to compete for their share of subscribers and revenue.
The sports streaming space is even more competitive as there are tons of different cable companies and streaming networks that offer a variety of sports packages.
ESPN+ is doing well, with more than 20 million subscribers in 2022.
- ESPN Plus is continuing to grow its subscriber base surpassing more than 22 million in the 2022 calendar year.
- Investors may opt to invest in the Walt Disney Company to gain exposure to ESPN.
- The Walt Disney Company acquired the majority of ESPN’s ownership rights more than two decades ago.
There’s currently no other way to invest in ESPN other than buying the Walt Disney Company public stock.
There may be some rival companies that are appealing in terms of making an investment, so we will cover some of these similar investment opportunities to help you understand which companies might be the most appealing to you, especially if you are not interested in purchasing the Walt Disney Company’s stock to indirectly invest in ESPN.
Similar Investment Opportunities
There are dozens of public companies that offer a variety of sports streaming services and sports subscription packages.
We are going to cover a few of these investment opportunities to help you make an investment decision.
FOX
Fox Corporation is a massive Media company that offers a variety of different services, including the ownership of mini networks like Fox Business, Fox News, and Fox Sports.
Some investors might be intrigued by the idea of investing in Fox because it has television networks like Fox Sports.
The stock is currently trading at around $30 per share in July of 2022.
Comcast
There’s no doubt that Comcast could also be an excellent investment opportunity for some investors, considering that it was founded in 1963 and is currently headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
With over 190,000 employees and subsidiaries like Xfinity, some investors will definitely be interested in making the investment in Comcast rather than something else.
Rogers
Rogers Communications is a popular Canadian Media Company that offers cable television to millions of users.
The company was founded in 1960 and is currently trading at approximately $48 per share in July of 2022.
With more than 20,000 employees and annual revenue of 14 billion Canadian dollars, the company is seen as one of the most intriguing potential investments that might be a great alternative to ESPN and Walt Disney.
Even though Fox, Comcast, and Rogers Communications are all a little bit different from ESPN, they could be great investments that are profitable in the long run.
These massive media networks offer a variety of services that include sports coverage, which is why some investors might find them particularly appealing.
Stock Price for ESPN in 2022?
Does ESPN have a stock price?
You won’t be able to find an ESPN stock price on a stock exchange because the company doesn’t have a public trading symbol.
Considering that the Walt Disney Company owns a majority of ESPN’s ownership rights, you might be interested in understanding the current price of the stock for the Walt Disney Company.
In July of 2022, the stock price for the Walt Disney Company was trading at approximately $97.50.
The Walt Disney Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Walt Disney Company suspended its shareholder dividends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s not clear whether or not the company will resume its dividend in the future.
Final Summary | ESPN Stock
ESPN has always been one of the world’s most famous sports networks that cover various sports leagues and sports headlines.
Investors should strongly consider whether or not they want to invest in the Walt Disney Company to gain indirect exposure to the ESPN network investment.
As the company transitions away from its cable network and tries to collect millions of customers through its new streaming platform known as ESPN+, only time will tell whether ESPN is capable of generating the levels of success that it had previously experienced before the cord-cutting movement started.
Over the last four financial quarters dating back to Q3 2021, ESPN+ has generated approximately $4.50 every single month per paying customer.
With more than 22 million subscribers in 2022 and that number steadily growing, the company is receiving more than 100 million dollars in revenue every month from ESPN+ as a streaming package.
We hope you enjoyed this article on ESPN stock.
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Disclaimer: The information above is for educational purposes only and should not be treated as investment advice. The strategy presented would not be suitable for investors who are not familiar with exchange traded options. Any readers interested in this strategy should do their own research and seek advice from a licensed financial adviser.
