ESPN CUTS THE CORD

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro talks about the network's game-changing new streaming service, its big deal with the NFL, and his relationship with his boss, Disney chief Bob Iger.

- BRENDAN VAUGHAN

NEARLY A HALF CENTURY AFTER AN OUT-OFWORK SPORTS JUNKIE NAMED BILL RASMUSSEN LAUNCHED THE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS PROGRAMMING NETWORK-REVOLUTIONIZING SPORTS MEDIA ON THE STRENGTH OF A NASCENT TECHNOLOGY CALLED CABLE TELEVISION-ESPN HAS FINALLY CUT ITS OWN CORD.

ON AUGUST 21, THE SELF-DESCRIBED “LEADING MULTIplatform sports entertainment brand” began allowing consumers to subscribe directly through a service called ... ESPN. Unlike ESPN+, which launched in 2018, the new streaming service provides access to the network's full range of content and coverage. The various pricing and bundling subtleties would take too long to describe here, but the direct-to-consumer version of ESPN costs around $30 a month and is mainly targeted at “the 60 million-plus households that are not accessing ESPN in the traditional ways today,” says ESPN chairman James “Jimmy” Pitaro, a former lawyer who's been running ESPN for more than seven years. He will need those households, plus as many future cord-cutters as possible. Over the past decade, ESPN has lost more than 25 million cable subscribers (each worth about $10 a month in carriage fees the network collects from cable providers). And more are disappearing every day.

I recently sat down with Pitaro at his Westport, Connecticut, home, an airy place with a “Beatles bathroom” (the walls are covered with photos of the Fab Four), a basketball hoop in the driveway, and a mixed-breed rescue dog named Jeter.

We spent the bulk of the interview talking about the DTC service but also covered his relationship with Disney CEO Bob Iger and the growing importance of gambling to ESPN’s business. A few weeks later, following news of ESPN’s big deal with the NFL, we had an email exchange about his vision of where the NFL Network and RedZone will fit into ESPN’s expanded portfolio.