He’s one of four internal candidates being considered to replace Bob Iger at the end of 2026, but ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro says Disney’s CEO succession process has “not changed anything” about the way he’s running the sports division.
“I’m sitting in my dream job. I literally grew up wanting to work here, even the years that I was competing against this place,” Pitaro told reporters on Wednesday. “I’m very fortunate and blessed to be surrounded by the best executives in the industry. I get out of bed and I say to myself, ‘I have to earn this today,’ because I feel just fortunate to be here.”
He acknowledged that its a “really important time” for ESPN, which is preparing to launch a fully direct-to-consumer version of the linear network — internally dubbed Flagship — in 2025.
“It’s not just about Flagship, but Flagship is probably the most important new initiative that we are going to be launching,” he said.
Pitaro also elaborated on how both ESPN and Disney as a whole are looking at Flagship. While he noted that there will be “some cannibalization” in the streaming product, the company is looking at this product as overall being an “additive” one.
“It’s fair to say that if people see Flagship, they do their own math, they value it a certain way, and they ultimately decide to stick with the larger bundle, we’re very good with that,” Pitaro said.
Overall, the ESPN head praised the bundling model, noting that the practice “has been really good to us.” Specifically, Pitaro was referring to cable bundles that include ESPN as well as partnerships with Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV.
Pitaro also spoke about Venu, the sports streaming bundling offering that will include offerings from Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that is set to release this fall. Earlier this month, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to block streamer’s launch after FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit against Venu Sports.
“We do respectfully disagree with the court’s decision on the preliminary injunction, and we are appealing,” Pitaro said Wednesday morning, noting that the company has already filed its appeal. “We believe that Venu is a pro-competitive service … It’s primarily directed at sports fans that are on the sidelines today, whether they’re on the sidelines because they’ve cut the cord or they’ve never subscribed to the traditional ecosystem.”
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