ESPN works to become central sports hub
Disney’s ESPN is working to become a hub for all live sports streaming, as the company has recently been in conversations with major sports leagues and RSNs. ESPN wants to create a feature on ESPN.com and the ESPN app to link users directly to where they can watch live sporting events. This would include competitive streaming services, such as Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video, which had exclusive rights to streaming sporting events last year. While the media partners have not yet been established, this would allow ESPN to become the TV guide for live sports.
The NPD Take:
- The strategy here would provide two-fold return, bolstering the opportunities to drive engagement with ESPN+ and generate revenue from new subscriber acquisition on competitive platforms.
AMC hopes to see box office recovery this year
AMC is hoping to see some box office recovery in 2023 with a strong slate of movies coming out. In Q4, AMC’s revenue improved slightly (2%) vs. the prior quarter, although revenue and attendance are still down from 2021. However, the AMC CEO recently said that they are confident that their multi-year recovery will see progress throughout 2023. The company is also looking at other ways to grow revenue, including launching a line of at-home popcorn at Walmart soon.
The NPD Take
- Movie theater attendance was falling before the pandemic, but when theaters were forced to shut down for several months as stay-at-home orders spread across the country, the box office took a huge hit. While some recovery has been seen over the last 2 years, theaters are still struggling to keep up. With a strong slate of movies set for 2023, companies like AMC have reason to be hopeful.
- As for the popcorn… that will come down to the marketing.