According to a document submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), made public on Tuesday, Disney purchased from Major League Baseball (MLB), the remaining share 15% of the league. From now on, Disney is the 100% owner of BAMTech, the entity that manages the streaming of sporting events, renamed Disney Streaming Services in 2019. The amount of this transaction is around 900 million dollars.
Disney quickly obtained a majority stake
BAMTech finds its roots in 2000, when MLB sought to develop streaming video technology in order to broadcast baseball games and highlights on the Internet. It was in 2015 that Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) announced its desire to spin off its broadcast technology division into an independent company. Since then, BAMTech’s technology has been used to power Disney + or Hulu, among others, and it has become over the years a key element of the company’s streaming infrastructure.
It looks like Disney was already aiming to take full control of BAMTech since the American company has invested heavilyin recent years, until becoming, in November 2022, 100% owner of Disney Streaming Services. As early as 2016, according to the media Techcrunchthe company has invested $1 billion for a 33% stake in BAMTech. Then, in 2017, she placed $1.58 billion to acquire an additional 42% stake. Recently, Disney purchased from the National Hockey League (NHL), its 10% stake, for an amount of 350 million dollars.
This action takes place a few days before the launch, on December 8, a cheaper subscription plan for advertising on Disney+like what Netflix offers with its new offer.
Changes to come at Disney
This full ownership of Disney Streaming Services comes at the same time as the announcement of the departure of the company’s general manager. Since November 20, it’s been Bob Iger, the former Disney executive, who is back at the helm of the company. The former CEO replaces Bob Chapek, whom he himself appointed to succeed him in February 2020.
In a memo to his staff that was sent November 21, Bob Iger said that a restructuring of the company was about to begin « in the next weeks “. According to the filing with the SEC, Disney advised that the new CEO ” will initiate organizational and operational changes within the company to achieve the objectives of the Board of Directors in the coming months ».
Fact, times are tough for Disney which has suffered from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. The American company had to close its amusement parks for long periods, reducing its turnover. Admittedly, the launch of its streaming offer, Disney+, enabled it to record, with ESPN+ and Hulu, more than 235 million subscribers worldwide. However, despite satisfactory results regarding the growth of its subscribersthe platform experienced an operating loss of $1.5 billion in its August-October 2022 quarter. Bob Iger pointed when he took over the job in November, stating that ” Disney should aim to make a profit instead of trying to maximize subscriber growth ».
