ESPN: Some of Disney’s higher quality stories are generated at ESPN

“The Walt Disney Company represents special entertainment with heart and in a company in which quality is the business model. I have always felt that some of Disney’s higher-quality stories come from ESPN,” commented Jimmy Pitaro, president of ESPN, at the start of the company’s Upfront at the Minskoff Theater in New York.

He highlighted that no one “has the strengths of ESPN: growing, diverse audiences, reach and height, brand equity, award-winning content, and all in a safe and measurable environment for brands.”

At the Upfront, ESPN revealed several new projects, such as Basketball: A Love Story, a mosaic of 60 short stories presenting this sports’ greatest stars (an ESPN Films production); Detail from the Mind of Kobe Bryant; The Last Dance (10×60’), presenting Michael Jordan, a documentary produced by Mandalay Sports Media in partnership with NBA Entertainment and Jump.DC., that will debut on ESPN and Netflix in 2019, and Pivot with Álex Rodríguez.

The group additionally presented ESPN’s new virtual studio that will make integration of sponsors easier and will offer greater flexibility.

ESPN also announced a content agreement with the FC Bayern Munich team, through which the channel has the rights to use and share video content of the team in English and Spanish across their media platforms in the US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

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